TRIPOLI, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- The International Organization for Migration (IOM) on Monday said 163 illegal migrants were rescued off the coast of Libya in the past week.

"From Nov. 19 to Nov. 25, 163 migrants were intercepted and returned to Libya," IOM said in a statement.

The rescued migrants included 20 women and 12 children, IOM said, adding that one dead body of an illegal migrant was retrieved.

So far this year, a total of 15,057 illegal migrants were rescued and returned to Libya, while 947 died and 1,256 went missing on the central Mediterranean route off the Libyan coast, according to IOM.

In 2022, the number of rescued stood at 24,684, while the dead and the missing reached 529 and 848, respectively.

As Libya descended into chaos after the fall of late leader Muammar Gaddafi's regime in 2011, many migrants, mostly Africans, chose the country as a departure point to cross the Mediterranean to reach European shores. Enditem

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