Libya has released a man described as “one of the world’s most wanted human traffickers”, just months after he was arrested in connection with the deaths of dozens of migrants by drowning.

Undersecretary of the Foreign Ministry Mahmoud Tlisi, has reiterated that Libya would not be a resettlement country for migrants.

The commander of the European Union’s (EU) Operation IRINI, Fabio Agostini, has confirmed to Italian newspaper, Corriere della Sera, that Libyan coastguards who were trained by the EU have not committed human rights violations against illegal immigrants.

Doctors without Borders (MSF) said one illegal immigrant was killed and two others were injured in gunshots fired inside a detention center in Tripoli.

Since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, several reports and NGOs have warned that refugees on European soil would be at higher risk of infection due to living in overcrowded and unsanitary conditions, making it impossible to comply with social distancing rules.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNCHR) announced this week that more than 4000 migrants have been rescued off the coast of Libya and returned to the country since the start of 2021.

At least five people died in a shipwreck off the coast of Libya on Tuesday night. Mediterranean crossings are continuing from Libya, despite persistent dangers.

At least 480 migrants were intercepted off Libya by local coast guard forces over the weekend, according to the United Nations’ migration agency.

Libyan Navy forces rescued Saturday 132 illegal immigrants, mostly African, on a dinghy en route to European shores.

Roughly 60 migrants are presumed dead after their boat engine caught fire off the Libyan coast during an attempted Mediterranean crossing, a rescue charity said on on Tuesday.