Tripoli, Jan 10 (IANS): The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said that 1,067 migrants were rescued and returned to Libya in the past week.

"In the period of January 1-7, 1,067 migrants were intercepted and returned to Libya," Xinhua news agency quoted the IOM as saying in a statement.

The rescued migrants included 53 women and 10 children, it added.

In 2022, 24,684 migrants were rescued and returned to Libya, the IOM revealed, adding 525 migrants died and 848 others went missing off the Libyan coast on the Central Mediterranean route.

Because of the insecurity and chaos in the North African country since the fall of late dictator Muammar Gaddafi's regime in 2011, many migrants, mostly Africans, have chosen to cross the Mediterranean Sea to European shores from Libya.

Rescued migrants usually end up inside overcrowded reception centres across Libya, despite repeated international calls to close them and release the migrants.