TRIPOLI, Nov. 10 (Xinhua) -- The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Monday that 958 illegal immigrants were rescued off the Libyan coast over the past week.
"In the period of 3-9 November, 958 migrants were rescued/intercepted at sea and returned to Libya," the IOM tweeted.
According to the IOM, 11,356 illegal immigrants, including 766 women and 638 children, have been rescued and returned to Libya so far in 2020, while 236 migrants have died and 340 others gone missing on the Central Mediterranean route.
In 2019, 9,225 illegal immigrants were rescued and returned to Libya, while 270 migrants died and 992 went missing, the IOM said.
Following the fall of the former leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, Libya has been plagued by a state of insecurity and chaos that prompts thousands of illegal immigrants to cross the Mediterranean Sea toward Europe from the country.
The IOM recently announced that more than 4,800 stranded migrants in Libya have been registered with the Voluntary Humanitarian Return program, which, run by the IOM, arranges the return of illegal immigrants stranded in Libya to their homelands. Enditem
