A group of about 20 migrants who were intercepted on a dinghy yesterday afternoon by a Libyan patrol boat were expected to be returned to Libya, according to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees.

Early yesterday morning, the migrants had twice phoned relatives in Italy, using a satellite phone, saying their dinghy was sinking. The migrants on board included a seven-month-old baby and three women, according to the information provided by the caller. A freighter sent to the area - at the edge of Libyan waters - found no trace of the boat. A search by an AFM aircraft also proved negative.

The migrants are believed to have left from Eritrea and Somalia and their request for assistance was forwarded to the Italian coastguard by the UN High Commission for Refugees. Libyan boats are believed to have tried to locate the same boat some days ago.

In 2008, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and Libyan leader leader Muammer Gaddafi had agreed that immigrants that were intercepted in international waters would be returned to Libya.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.