The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on Monday said that 600 illegal migrants have been rescued off Libya’s western coast.
A total of 11,891 illegal immigrants were rescued and returned to Libya in 2020. The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said 381 migrants died and 597 went missing on the Central Mediterranean route during the same period.
The UN refugee agency stated: “Some 600 people were returned today to Tripoli and to Zawiya by Libyan Coast Guard, among them many women and children”
The Libyan route has become a preferred point of departure for thousands of illegal immigrants from the continent who attempt to cross the Mediterranean Sea to reach Europe.
Several illegal migrants have been rescued since the beginning of the year but survivors end up inside overcrowded reception camps across Libya, despite repeated international calls to close them.
In a related development, 42 shipwreck survivors were returned to Tripoli by the Libyan Coast Guard. Members of the UNHCR and IRC treated survivors suffering from burns in different parts of their bodies. One body was recovered while twenty-three persons are reported missing.