175 illegal migrants arrest in Libya

The Libyan coast guards arrested 175 illegal migrants as they were leaving for Europe form the shores of the capital Tripoli on Tuesday. The guards stopped a boat carrying 90 illegal migrants 22 miles north-east of Tripoli's shore and another one with 85 persons on board off the coast of Garabulli town on Tuesday, Libyan Navy army spokesperson, Colonel Ayub Qasim, said in a statement. He pointed out that all migrants are from several African countries, including Somalia, Mali, Senegal, Gambia and Ivory Coast. On October, Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan acknowledged that illegal migration was sometimes "out of the hands of the authorities." Over the recent months, the European Union Border Assistance Mission (EUBAM) in Libya has been aiding the Libyan authorities with an integrated border management strategy and training for border security forces. Due to the massive flow of the illegal migrants throughout Libya to Europe, European Union has recently kicked off a counter illegal migration program called "Mare Nostrum," which deploys joint Libyan and Italian forces in the Mediterranean Sea. Furthermore on last October Libya has sealed off a deal with Italian company Selex to monitor Libya's southern borders, currently controlled by traffickers and smugglers. Libya has never signed the Geneva Convention on Status of Refugee. However, it is a transit route for Somalis, Eritreans as well as for Syrians feeing the war.