On Sunday, the German Sea-Eye volunteer organisation rescued 114 migrants from two ships stranded off the Libyan coast, according to the organisation’s website.
The rescue boat first lifted 90 people from an “overloaded rubber boat” before lifting another 24 people aboard from the fishing boat.
According to volunteers, eight of those rescued are children and eight are women, one of whom is pregnant.
“For fear of being detained by Libyan militias, these people did not send a distress signal, putting themselves at high risk,” said Sea-Eye President Gorden Isler.
Although migrants usually have to choose between Libya and the sea, they “are now on a German ship and are finally treated like people,” Isler added.
This year, the number of migrant vessels increased sharply again. Many of such boats are hardly suitable for sailing at sea.
Last month, the International Organisation for Migration revealed that 6,989 migrants have been intercepted in the Mediterranean and returned by the Libyan Coast Guard, since the beginning of this year.
Libya is the main point of departure for migrants setting off for Europe in the hope of finding a better life and escaping poor life conditions. Most migrants sailing to Europe do so from the northern coast of Libya, which is controlled by the Government of the National Accord (GNA).