18 illegal immigrants rescued off Libyan coast, 7 die: report
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E-mail Xinhua, July 9, 2020
TRIPOLI, July 8 (Xinhua) -- The International Organization for Migration (IOM) on Wednesday said that 18 illegal immigrants have been rescued off the Libyan coast, while seven others died at sea.
"Today, 18 migrants were returned to Tripoli, Libya by the coast guard ... seven people lost their lives during the week they spent floating at sea," IOM tweeted.
"Four of the migrants were in critical health condition and were transferred to a clinic," IOM said.
Encouraged by the state of insecurity and chaos that plagued the country since the 2011 fall of the late leader Muammar Gaddafi's regime, illegal immigrants choose to cross the Mediterranean Sea from Libya towards Europe.
IOM estimated that more than 5,700 illegal immigrants have been rescued and returned to Libya by the Libyan Coast Guard so far this year, while 9,225 illegal immigrants were rescued and returned to Libya in 2019. Enditem
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