Coast guard officials in eastern Libya intercepted at least 404 migrants trying to reach Europe on board ten different small vessels.

The operations at sea took place near the eastern city of Tobruk not far from the border with Egypt, which is under the de-facto administration of the so-called Libyan National Army (LNA) under the command of Field Marshall Khalifa Haftar — a rival administration to the UN-recognized authorities in the west of the country.

The organization Red Crescent in Tobruk said that the migrants had "faced harsh conditions at sea," when officials reached them and intercepted their boats to bring them back ashore.

Pictures shared by the organization on social media showed various migrants receiving first aid, food and blankets after the operation, highlighting that these services took place in coordination with the UNHCR.

The Red Crescent further added that migrants from several different nationalities were on board the boats, without going into further detail.

This latest development comes after ten migrants died when their boat capsized off a nearby part of the Libyan coastline. 31 people are still missing from that event, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). 

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Can Libyan sea operations be referred to as 'rescues'?

Authorities in Libya typically present such interceptions as rescue missions. However, the fact that migrants picked up at sea are usually returned to detention centers in Libya, where they face inhumane and unsanitary conditions casts doubt over the full weight of the official narrative.

EU funds, training and support have been provided to both coast guards operating along the Libyan coast, through a series of EU and bilateral agreements, principally brokered by Italy. These agreements are intended to help Libya manage migration, but there have been numerous reports from NGOs and news agencies of Libyan patrol vessels and unmarked Libyan operatives carrying out interception operations in both Libyan and sometimes international waters of the Mediterranean.

The official Libyan SAR (Search and Rescue) region in the Mediterranean is quite vast. Under maritime and EU agreements for the area, vessels which come across migrants in the area should refer first to the Libyan maritime control centers for instructions on how to proceed in terms of rescue and transport to a safe port. However, many NGO rescue organizations refuse to do so, because they and the UN have underlined many times that Libya cannot be regarded as a safe port for the disembarkation of migrants.

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There are mounting reports of severe human rights abuses that take place during the detention of the migrants, with some migrants later recounting instances of sexual abuse, torture, slavery and murder.

Libya has long become a major transit country for migrants hoping to reach Europe; many of them hail from sub-Saharan Africa, as well as from the Middle East and Asian countries.

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Why does Libya play such a big role in migration?

Since the fall of longtime Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in a NATO-backed uprising in 2011, parts of the North African country have descended into a state of lawlessness.

Out of this power vacuum, two competing governments have emerged over the years: There's the internationally recognized Government of National Unity (GNU), led by Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, in Tripoli; and then there's a parallel government, backed by the country's eastern-based parliament in Benghazi, led by Osama Hammad.

Neither administration appears to have a firm grip on the rule of law across much of the country's vast Mediterranean and desert landscape.

Smuggling networks have exploited these conditions, building extensive systems to transport irregular migrants through Libya. There are also accusations that the networks work in conjunction with some more official forces in both administrations, which can lead to silence surrounding the true extent of potential abuse going on in the country.

Each year, thousands of people travel on these desert routes, risking their lives to reach Europe across the Mediterranean Sea.

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with Reuters