200 migrants rescued off Libyan coast

Tripoli, Nov 5 (IANS)  The Libyan Navy has rescued 200 illegal immigrants off western Libyan shores, said an official. 

"A patrol of the Libyan Navy rescued 200 illegal immigrants on a rubber boat that crashed into the Libyan territorial waters," Xinhua news agency quoted Mahmoud Shabrak, documentation officer of the Libyan Navy, as saying.

The rescued migrants include women who are of African nationalities, Shabrak added.

The immigrants, who have been rescued by the Libyan Navy, are detained in receptions centres with poor living conditions.

Libya is a preferred point of departure for illegal immigrants, who want to cross the Mediterranean towards European shores, due to the insecurity and chaos in the country since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi's regime in 2011.