The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said that 89 migrants have been intercepted and returned to Libya during the past week.
“In the period of 7 – 13 May 2023, 89 migrants were intercepted and returned to Libya,” IOM said via Twitter.
“So far this year, a total of 5,058 migrants have been rescued and returned to Libya,” IOM said, adding that 641 illegal migrants died and 318 others went missing off the Libyan coast on the central Mediterranean route in 2023.
Due to the insecurity and chaos in the country since the fall of late dictator Muammar Gaddafi’s regime in 2011, many migrants, mostly Africans, choose to cross the Mediterranean Sea to European shores from Libya.