600 Illegal Migrants Rescued Off Libyan Coast, Says UNHCR

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on Monday said that some 600 illegal migrants have been rescued off Libya’s western coast.

“Some 600 people were returned today to Tripoli and to Zawiya by Libyan Coast Guard, among them many women and children,” the UN refugee agency tweeted earlier Monday.

In 2020, a total of 11,891 illegal immigrants were rescued and returned to Libya, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said, noting that 381 migrants died and 597 went missing on the Central Mediterranean route during the same period.

Libya has become a preferred point of departure for thousands of illegal immigrants who attempt to cross the Mediterranean Sea to reach European shores.

Rescued migrants end up inside overcrowded reception centers across Libya, despite repeated international calls to close them.