Tears form in the eyes of a woman among illegal migrants who were detained after Libyan coastguards caught them attempting to flee the coast to Europe in Zawia, west of Tripoli. Photo: Ismail Zitouny/Reuters
Libyan police yesterday said they intercepted at sea a number of illegal migrants who were on their way to Italy.
In total officers said they arrested 270 migrants, including some children.
The migrants are from Syria, Sudan and Eritrea.
Some admitted Italy was their intended destination.
“We came from Sudan via the desert. We heard that from Libya we could travel to Italy. We arrived in Tripoli and from Tripoli we headed to the sea.”
On Sunday at least 40 people died when a boat laden with migrants sank off the Tripoli coast. Another boat sank in the south of Sicily on Monday.
In March the Italian navy rescued more than 4,000 from overcrowded boats in the Mediterranean in just four days.