Brussels, 08/11/2006 (Agence Europe) - Libyan police have detained 708 illegal migrants trying to sail to Europe from Libya in late October, the Jamahiriya News Agency has announced. Libyan authorities also deported 1,213 would-be migrants of various nationalities during the same October 22-31 period. These latest deportations bring to at least 6,800 the number sent home since mid-September, according to Libyan figures. A report published by Human Rights Watch in September stressed that the Libyan government was guilty of serious human rights violations on asylum seekers and refugees, with beatings, arbitrary arrest and forced deportation. According to government statistics, some 600,000 foreigners live and work legally in Libya, a country that has a population of around 5.3 million. But the presence on the territory of 1 to 1.2 million foreigners (up to 2 million according to unofficial sources) in an illegal situation weighs heavily on resources and infrastructures. Libya has still not signed the 1951 Convention on refugees. On 22 and 23 November, Tripoli will be hosting an Africa-Europe conference on illegal migration during which the EU hopes to reach a cooperation agreement. (bc)