TRIPOLI, Nov. 29 (Xinhua) -- The International Organization for Migration said on Monday that 886 illegal migrants have been rescued and returned to Libya in the past week.
"In the period of Nov. 21 - Nov. 27, 886 migrants were rescued/intercepted at sea and returned to Libya," the UN agency said.
So far in 2021, a total of 30,990 illegal migrants, including women and children, have been rescued, while 506 died and 807 went missing off the Libyan coast on the Central Mediterranean route, it said.
Many illegal migrants, mostly Africans, choose to cross the Mediterranean Sea to European shores from Libya, given the state of chaos and insecurity that plagued the country since the fall of the late leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.
Rescued migrants end up inside overcrowded reception centers across Libya, despite repeated international calls to close those centers. Enditem