Libya Rescues 45 Migrants From Rubber Boat North of Tobruk By The Media Line Staff Libya’s Coast Guard rescued 45 undocumented migrants on Saturday from a rubber boat in the Mediterranean, roughly 222 km north of Tobruk, the eastern port city near the Egyptian border, according to the Libyan newspaper Al-Watan. The group—23 Egyptians and […]
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The Media Line: Libya Rescues 45 Migrants From Rubber Boat North of Tobruk
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Libya Rescues 45 Migrants From Rubber Boat North of Tobruk
By The Media Line Staff
Libya’s Coast Guard rescued 45 undocumented migrants on Saturday from a rubber boat in the Mediterranean, roughly 222 km north of Tobruk, the eastern port city near the Egyptian border, according to the Libyan newspaper Al-Watan. The group—23 Egyptians and 22 Sudanese—received medical checks and basic supplies before being transferred to a detention facility for processing, authorities said. The operation was carried out in international waters north of Libya’s eastern coastline, where departures toward Europe have risen during calmer seas.
The rescue highlights Libya’s role as a main transit hub for Africans and Middle Easterners seeking to reach Italy, Malta, and, eventually, other parts of the European Union. Smuggling networks expanded after the 2011 NATO-backed revolt that deposed longtime ruler Moammar Gadhafi, taking advantage of a fractured security landscape and weak law enforcement across the country’s coastline and desert frontiers.
Libya remains divided between the Tripoli-based Government of National Unity and an eastern administration aligned with Gen. Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army. That split complicates maritime coordination, migrant screening, and repatriation, even as European states fund training and equipment for Libyan maritime units and push for tighter border controls. Rights groups have criticized detention conditions and urged alternatives to blanket confinement; Libyan officials say facilities are overcrowded and under-resourced, and that greater international support is needed to stem departures and dismantle trafficking networks.
Saturday’s case follows a pattern seen through recent migration seasons: small rubber craft launched by smugglers, distressed at sea, intercepted by Libyan patrols, and redirected to shore for medical triage and legal procedures. Regional observers expect more rescues as weather windows open and smugglers test the limits of divided authorities along the eastern coastline.