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An undated video grab from Libyan television footage shows rescued African migrants at the port of Tripoli - Source: Reuters
Italy has cheered a "historic" deportation of 227 migrants who were intercepted at sea and sent directly back to Libya before touching shore, in what one rights group said was a violation of international law.
Normally, illegal immigrants approaching Italy are brought on shore for processing, allowing for identification, medical examinations and asylum requests by refugees.
But Interior Minister Roberto Maroni said that, after years of pressing for greater co-operation from Tripoli, Libya allowed Italian ships to escort the migrant ships back to the Libyan coast from which they departed.
"For the first time in history, we were able to send illegal immigrants directly back to Libya," Maroni told Italian television.
"Until now, we had to get them, identify them, send them back to their countries of origin ... For the first time, Libya agreed to take non-EU citizens who are not Libyan but departed from Libyan coasts."
Loris De Filippi, head of Doctors Without Borders in Italy, condemned what he called a "forced repatriation".
"For us, the fact that 227 people were forcibly repatriated to Libya isn't an 'historic' event. From our point of view, it's an event that should be strongly condemned."
The deportations were made possible by deepening ties between Rome and Tripoli, which earlier this year signed an accord compensating Libya for Italy's colonial-era misdeeds.
That pact is meant to boost cross-border investments and co-operation, and Libya has already become an important investor in Italy's banking and energy sectors.
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