Italy Transports 360 Migrants to Libya

[gottaB]

ROME, Oct. 6 -- Italian military planes carried 360 would-be migrants from the Italian island of Lampedusa to Libya on Wednesday, a move that officials here described as an emergency response to a flood of boat people but which international observers criticized as a breach of human rights.

The deportees were among 1,200 people of several nationalities who had arrived by sea in recent days at Lampedusa, 70 miles off the North African coast. Most were believed to have embarked in Libya.

Previously, Italy had sent such arrivals to holding camps around the country for processing, in case some of them were seeking political asylum. Because of the secrecy surrounding Wednesday's deportations, it wasn't clear whether any of the migrants had sought, or were asked, about asylum.

After U.N. refugee officials were barred from visiting a holding facility on Lampedusa on Saturday, representatives of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees were granted permission to inspect the site on Thursday, news reports said.

Italy Transports 360 Migrants to Libya....

See also:

• AI: Italian Government must ensure access to asylum for those in need of protection
  
• Italy resumes expelling migrants