TRIPOLI, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- Libyan authorities, in cooperation with the International Organization for Migration, on Wednesday morning deported 96 illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and Pakistan voluntarily to their countries.
The Libyan Anti-illegal Immigration Department said in a statement that 60 migrants from Bangladesh and 36 others from Pakistan left the capital Tripoli's international airport to their countries.
The deportation is part of the voluntary return program carried out by the organization, with an aim to arrange the return of illegal migrants stranded in Libya to their countries of origin.
Migrant shelters in Libya are crowded with thousands of migrants who have been rescued at sea or arrested by the Libyan security services.
Libya has become a preferred departure point for illegal migrants hoping to cross the Mediterranean Sea into Europe due to insecurity and chaos in the North African country following the 2011 uprising that toppled former leader Muammar Gaddafi.
