The International Organization for Migration (IOM) on Monday said that 1,313 migrants were rescued off the coast of Libya in the past week.
“From January 19 to 25, 1,313 migrants were intercepted and returned to Libya,” IOM said in a statement.
The migrants include more than 160 women and over 60 children, IOM said, adding two bodies of migrants were retrieved.
So far this year, 1,806 migrants have been intercepted and returned to Libya, while 32 others died on the Central Mediterranean route, IOM said.
Because of the insecurity and chaos in the country since the fall of late leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, many migrants, mostly Africans, chose to cross the Mediterranean Sea to European shores from Libya. ■