A ship with at least 700 migrants was intercepted off the east coast of Libya, AP reports citing the coast guard of the country.

He was stopped on Friday near the Mediterranean city of Mura. Migrants were representatives of different countries, mostly young people. Those of them who illegally entered Libya will be transferred to their countries.

It was one of the largest interceptions in recent months of migrants fleeing conflict and poverty in the Middle East and Africa to Europe..

Last August, Italian warships assisted a ship full of 539 migrants off the southern island of Lampedusa.. The boat was launched from the coast of Libya.

In recent years, Libya has become a major transit point for migrants seeking a better quality of life in Europe.. The oil-rich country plunged into chaos after a 2011 uprising that toppled and killed autocrat Muammar Gaddafi.

In recent years, traffickers have capitalized on the chaos in Libya by smuggling migrants across the border.. The migrants are then transferred to poorly equipped rubber boats and other vessels and sent on a perilous sea voyage..

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The International Organization for Migration has reported 1,522 dead or missing migrants in the Mediterranean this year. Overall, at least 24,871 migrants have died or gone missing in the Mediterranean since 2014 – the real number could be higher given the number of unreported shipwrecks.

In December 2021, The Outlaw Ocean Project, a non-profit journalism organization, reported that a system of migrant camps had been built in Libya.. The camps are controlled by armed groups, migrants are kept in inhuman conditions: they are tortured, robbed and killed without the right to trial and protection. It was noted that European officials are aware of this, but continue to allocate funds for this system, since in this way migration to Europe is reduced..