Libya’s coast guard intercepted 574 refugees bound for Europe from the Mediterranean Sea in a single day, a spokesperson has said.

The three groups included 388 men, 66 women and 19 children, a coast guard spokesman, Ayoub Gassim, said in a statement.

He said one group of 292 refugees, including 42 women and 10 children, embarked on the perilous trip for Europe on three rubber boats, but the coast guard stopped them off the coast of the western town of Zawiya.

The three groups included 388 men, 66 women and 19 children (MAHMUD TURKIA/AFP/Getty Images) (AFP/Getty)

Another group of 101 refugees on a rubber boat were also rescued off the coast of the capital, Tripoli, the coast guard said in a separate statement.

It also said it had rescued 181 others, including 24 women and nine children, who were in two boats in a separate incident off Tripoli.

Mr Gassim said the refugees came from both African and Middle Eastern countries.

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The three groups were intercepted on Monday.

All were given humanitarian aid and were handed over to anti-migration authorities in the town of Tajoura and Tripoli, Mr Gassim said.

The coastguard’s operation should not be considered a rescue, said Aloys Vimard, MSF project coordinator on board the Aquarius, a rescue ship operating in the Mediterranean Sea.

He told The Independent that Libya could not be recognised as a place of safety. “There is no process to claim international protection. People are exposed to a high level of violence and torture. We cannot call it a rescue.”

Mr Vimard said the coastguard ships were also unequipped to rescue refugees from the sea.

“They don’t have life jackets, they don’t have rescue boats. If there is someone in the water,. they cannot retrieve those people from the water. They are not equipped as a rescue boat. It’s concerning.”

He said the operations could be considered a method to “pull back” refugees to Libya, because Italian authorities cannot “push back.”

Once the refugees are returned to Libya, they are sent to detention centres, which Mr Vimard said were in “dire condition.”

“Those people are cramped into large cells without ventilation. They have very little food, one bowl of rice or pasta per day, with very limited access to health.

“Those conditions are inhuman and terrible.”

In pictures: Life on board a refugee rescue ship Show all 10 1 /10 In pictures: Life on board a refugee rescue ship In pictures: Life on board a refugee rescue ship Refugees sleep on the deck of MV Aquarius Alva White/MSF In pictures: Life on board a refugee rescue ship An overcrowded rubber vote before a rescue by the MV Aquarius Alva White/MSF In pictures: Life on board a refugee rescue ship Young boy being rescued from a rubber boat by the MV Aquarius Isabelle Serro/SOS Mediterranee In pictures: Life on board a refugee rescue ship The rescue of a wooden boat with more than 400 peopl on board by the MV Aquarius on 21 August Isabelle Serro/SOS Mediterranee In pictures: Life on board a refugee rescue ship Women rescued on MV Aquarius approaching Italy in the early morning Alva White/MSF In pictures: Life on board a refugee rescue ship Crew on the MV Aquarius search for a missing boat Alva White/MSF In pictures: Life on board a refugee rescue ship Rescue on the 21st August of a wooden boat carrying more than 400 people and a rubber boat with 120 people crammed on board. Ferry Schippers/MSF In pictures: Life on board a refugee rescue ship The night rescue of 124 people after they had been on the water for 20 hours by the MV Aquarius Peter Eickmeyer/SOS Mediterranee In pictures: Life on board a refugee rescue ship The MV Aquarius rescue vessel operated by Doctors Without Borders (MSF) and SOS Méditerranée in the Mediterranean Sea Alva White/MSF In pictures: Life on board a refugee rescue ship Jacob Goldberg, MSF's team leader on board the MV Aquarius rescue ship Alva White/MSF

The interceptions came a day after the UN refugee agency said it is looking into possible violations of international law involving the transport to Libya of 108 migrants rescued at sea by an Italian-flagged mercantile ship.

The UN high commissioner for refugees in Italy said on Twitter that Libya is not a secure port, making such a transfer a violation of international law.

An Italian politician aboard a rescue ship operated by a non-governmental organisation, Nicola Frantoianni, said on Facebook they had proof the ship, Asso Ventotto, was taking the migrants to Libya, calling it “a very serious precedent” if ordered by the Italian coast guard.

Responding to the suspicions, Italy’s interior minister, Matteo Salvini said on Facebook that the Italian coast guard was not involved in the rescue, which was coordinated by the Libyan coast guard.

Libya has emerged as a major transit point to Europe for those fleeing poverty and civil war elsewhere in Africa and the Middle East.

Traffickers have exploited the chaos in Libya following the 2011 uprising in which longtime dictator Muammar Gaddafi was killed.