Armed force ‘led by former MAFIA boss’ causing dramatic reduction in migrants to Italy, by Thomas Hunt.

An armed group has based themselves in the seaside town of Sabratha, which is 45miles west of the capital Tripoli, and have been touted as a reason for a 50 per cent drop in arrivals in Italy compared to a year earlier.

Sources speaking to Reuters claim the new force is preventing migrants from leaving and is often locking them up.

The group is reportedly running a detention centre for migrants while seeking legitimacy and financial support from Tripoli. …

A civil society organiser from the city said: “The group in Sabratha works on the ground, the beach, to prevent the migrants leaving on boats towards Italy.”

A second source said the group is made up of several hundred “civilians, policemen, army figures”. …

Some 600,000 migrants have reached Italy by sea from North Africa since 2014 with more than 12,000 having died attempting the trip. …

The revelation that an armed group is operating in the area will make sense to experts who had been trying to explain the drop off in migrant numbers.

hat-tip Stephen Neil