A UN migration agency spokesperson reported that almost 500 migrants who attempted to cross the central Mediterranean have been returned to Libya, following two days of no contact with the boat carrying them.
Flavio Di Giacomo, a spokesperson for the UN's International Organization for Migration (IOM), stated on Twitter that Libya is an unsafe port where migrants should not be returned.
On Friday, the migrants docked in the Libyan port of Benghazi, and at this stage, no additional details have been given to the IOM. Since Wednesday morning, Alarm Phone, a group that responds to calls from migrant vessels in distress, had no news from the boat.
The boat was adrift in high seas, around 320 km (200 miles) north of Libya and over 400 km from Malta or Italy's southern island of Sicily, without a functioning engine at the time.
On Thursday, the Italian Coast Guard rescued 423 and 671 migrants in two separate operations in Italian search and rescue waters, which Alarm Phone confirmed were not related to the missing boat.
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