Nearly 1,500 illegal migrants rescued off Libyan coast in past week: IOM
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E-mail Xinhua, February 9, 2021
TRIPOLI, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said Monday that nearly 1,500 illegal migrants have been rescued off the Libyan coast during the past week.
"In the period of Feb. 2-8, 1,487 migrants were rescued/intercepted at sea and returned to Libya," IOM said.
So far in 2021, a total of 1,956 illegal migrants have been rescued off the Libyan coast, including 185 women and 124 children, IOM said.
IOM also said that 20 illegal migrants died while 67 others went missing on the Central Mediterranean route in 2021.
Due to the state of insecurity and chaos in the North African nation following the overthrow of its leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, thousands of illegal immigrants, mostly Africans, chose to cross the Mediterranean from Libya towards Europe.
In 2020, 323 migrants died and 417 others went missing on the Central Mediterranean route, while 11,891 illegal migrants were rescued and returned to Libya, according to IOM. Enditem
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