Three-year-old boy among hundreds of migrants rescued off Libyan coast

Many aboard the flimsy, overcrowded boats were without lifejackets

Some 12,000 migrants were rescued at sea and returned to Libya in 2020. AP

A three-year-old boy was one of hundreds of migrants rescued off Libya's coast by a Spanish-flagged ship belonging to an NGO.

Another 79 were stopped by the Libyan coastguard and returned to North Africa, while eight migrants were reported lost at sea.

"While IOM staff were on-site to provide assistance, we reiterate that no one should be returned to Libya," said the UN's International Organisation for Migration in Libya.

Proactive Open Arms, the Spanish NGO that rescued some of the migrants, said many of them were not wearing life jackets on the flimsy, overcrowded boats.

Open Arms said that of the 96 rescued on Saturday, there were two children and 17 minors, and most were from Eritrea. The NGO is looking for a safe port for the ship to dock.

Last year, about 12,000 migrants were rescued at sea and returned to Libya. More than 300 died on the central Mediterranean route to Europe and at least 400 were missing.

Amnesty International said migrants from Libya were trapped in a "vicious cycle of cruelty" where they can be abused or killed in formal and informal detention centres.

The European Union has been criticised for often leaving the responsibility for rescuing migrants to Libya's coastguard. Some members of the service have been accused of human rights violations.