The Latest: Libya defends migrant rescue record at sea

The Latest: Libya defends migrant rescue record at sea


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MADRID (AP) — The Latest on mass migration to Europe (all times local):

10:30 p.m.

A spokesman for Libya's coast guard has responded to the criticism of a Spanish aid group and said guard members carry out rescues of Europe-bound migrants, "in accordance with international standards in saving lives at sea."

The Spanish group, Proactiva Open Arms, a Spanish rescue group, accused the Libyan coast guard Tuesday of abandoning three people in the Mediterranean Sea, including a woman and a toddler who died.

Coast guard spokesman Ayoub Gassim said in a statement: "All disasters happening in the sea are caused by human traffickers who are only interested in profit and the presence of such irresponsible, non-governmental groups in the region."

He said the coast guard has rescued more than 80,000 migrants who departed Libya for Europe in recent years.

Gassim said earlier Tuesday that the coast guard intercepted a Europe-bound boat with 160 passengers on Monday. The aid group says the three abandoned had refused to get on the coast guard boat.

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7:35 p.m.

Libya's coast guard says it has rescued 165 migrants, including 34 women and 12 children, and recovered the body of a child off the eastern coast of the capital, Tripoli.

Coast guard spokesman Ayoub Gassim says the migrants were stuck for more than 60 hours at sea after their rubber boat capsized on Saturday.

He says they were rescued on Tuesday and taken to a naval base in Tripoli, many with serious sunburns.

Libya has emerged as a major transit point to Europe for people fleeing poverty and civil war elsewhere in Africa. Human traffickers have exploited Libya's chaos following the 2011 uprising that toppled and later killed longtime ruler Moammar Gaddafi.

Libyan authorities have stepped up efforts to stem the flow of migrants, with the help of training and money from Europe.

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5:30 p.m.

Spain's Maritime Rescue Service says at least 328 people have been rescued in the Mediterranean Sea despite strong currents in the Strait of Gibraltar area, the closest stretch of water separating Europe from North Africa.

The service said 82 migrants, including 16 women and 3 children, were found in a boat attempting to navigate the strait's wild waters on Tuesday after departing from Morocco.

Other boats carrying 189 more people were found further east in the Mediterranean on Tuesday. Another group of 57 migrants landed at tiny Alboran Island, where the rescue service says Spanish soldiers assisted them.

The United Nations migration agency, IOM, says more than 18,000 migrants reached Spain by sea from the beginning of 2018 until mid-July.

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3:40 p.m.

A migrant aid group has accused Libya's coast guard of abandoning three people in the Mediterranean Sea, including a woman and a toddler who died.

Proactiva Open Arms, a Spanish rescue group, said it had found one woman alive Tuesday and another one dead, along with the body of a toddler, amid the drifting remains of a destroyed migrant boat.

The group accused both a merchant ship sailing in international waters and Libya's coast guard on Tuesday of failing to help the three migrants. The coast guard said it intercepted a Europe-bound boat with 160 passengers on Monday.

Proactiva Open Arms posted images and videos on social media showing the wreckage and the dead bodies it said were found 80 nautical miles from the Libyan coast.

Libyan Coast Guard spokesman Ayoub Gassim said earlier Tuesday that a boat carrying 158 passengers, including 34 women and nine children, was stopped. He said the migrants were given humanitarian and medical aid and were taken to a refugee camp.

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2:45 p.m.

The U.N. migration agency says the number of migrants and refugees who have arrived in Spain by sea this year has overtaken those who have reached Italy.

The International Organization for Migration said Tuesday that Spain saw 18,016 migrants up to July 15, while 17,827 people landed in Italy during the same period.

Aid groups have reported a rise in the number of crossings to Spain and Greece compared to the previous year, while arrivals in Italy are down almost 80 percent from 2017.

The overall number of migrants and refugees entering Europe by sea this year totals 50,872, compared with 109,746 by mid-July 2017 and 241,859 during the same period in 2016.

IOM says 1,443 people are dead or missing in the Mediterranean so far this year.

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10:45 a.m.

Libya's coast guard says it has intercepted some 160 Europe-bound African migrants, including dozens of children and women, in the Mediterranean Sea near its shores.

Spokesman Ayoub Gassim says a boat carrying 158 passengers including 34 women and nine children was stopped Monday off the coast of the western town of Khoms.

Libya has emerged as a major transit point to Europe for those fleeing poverty and civil war elsewhere in Africa. Traffickers have exploited Libya's chaos following the 2011 uprising that toppled and later killed longtime ruler Moammar Gaddafi.

He says the migrants were given humanitarian and medical aid, and were taken to a refugee camp in Khoms town.

Libyan authorities have stepped up efforts to stem the flow of migrants, with European assistance.

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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