95 illegal immigrants rescued off Libyan coast

TRIPOLI, Libya

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said Wednesday that 95 illegal immigrants were rescued off Libya’s western coast.

“A group of 95 migrants were returned to Khums, Libya by the coast guard. IOM staff were onsite to provide needed assistance and report that among them were four women,” the IOM tweeted.

Earlier on Wednesday, the IOM said that 131 illegal immigrants, including 13 miners, were rescued off the country’s western coast.

The IOM estimates that more than 6,100 illegal immigrants have been rescued off the Libyan coast and returned to Libya so far in 2020, compared with 9,225 in 2019.

The fall of the previous Muammar Gaddafi’s government in 2011 has created a state of insecurity and chaos in Libya, which made it a preferred point of departure for illegal immigrants to cross the Mediterranean Sea towards European shores.

Immigrant shelters in Libya are overcrowded with immigrants, despite repeated international calls to close them. - Africa