By Aluta News
May 24, 2022
The Libyan Navy on Tuesday said that four bodies of illegal migrants were recovered and 3 others were missing when a boat capsized off the country’s western coast.
The Libyan navy in a statement said “a boat carrying illegal migrants capsized yesterday off the coast of Mellitah town. in Western Libya.’’
“A coast guard patrol rescued 17 illegal migrants and recovered four bodies, while three others remain missing, as they were on their way to Europe,’’ the navy said.
The Illegal Migration Control Department will look after the rescued migrants and prepare to deport them to their countries, it added.
Libya has been suffering insecurity and chaos since the fall of the late leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, making the North African country a preferred point of departure for illegal migrants, who want to cross the Mediterranean Sea to European shores.
According to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), so far in 2022, a total of 6,340 illegal migrants were rescued and returned to Libya, including 510 women and 273 minors.
The organisation added that in 2021, a total of 32,425 illegal migrants were rescued and returned to Libya, while 662 died and 891 others went missing off the Libyan coast on the central Mediterranean route.
Xinhua/NAN