TRIPOLI, May 11 (NNN-Xinhua) — The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said that 7,096 illegal migrants have been rescued off the Libyan coast so far this year.
The rescued migrants include 546 women and 336 minors, IOM said, adding that 157 illegal migrants died and 349 others went missing on the Central Mediterranean route so far in 2021.
In 2020, 11,891 illegal migrants were rescued and returned to Libya, 381 illegal migrants died, and 597 others went missing on the Central Mediterranean route, according to IOM.
“The situation cannot be ignored and states must live up to their responsibilities and redeploy search and rescue vessels,” Federico Soda, IOM’s chief of mission to Libya, tweeted.
In the latest case Monday, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said that 42 illegal migrants were returned to Libya, an illegal migrant’s body was recovered, and 23 others reportedly went missing.
“42 shipwreck survivors have just been returned to Tripoli by Libyan Coast Guard. UNHCR and International Rescue Committee treating survivors suffering from burns in different parts of their bodies,” UNHCR tweeted.
The state of insecurity and chaos in Libya following the fall of its long-time leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 has encouraged thousands of migrants to cross the Mediterranean Sea towards European shores.
According to IOM and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), migrants and refugees in Libya continue to be subjected to arbitrary detention, ill-treatment, exploitation and violence, conditions that push them to take risky journeys with fatal consequences, especially sea crossings.
Rescued migrants end up inside overcrowded reception centers across Libya, despite repeated international calls to close those centers. — NNN-XINHUA