Tripoli, May 2 (IANS): The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said that 484 migrants, including women and children, have been rescued and returned to Libya during the past week.

"In the period of April 23-29, 484 migrants were intercepted and returned to Libya," Xinhua news agency quoted the IOM as saying in a statement.

"So far this year, a total of 4,819 illegal migrants have been rescued and returned to Libya," ot said, adding that 505 illegal migrants died and 319 others went missing off the Libyan coast on the central Mediterranean route in 2023.

In 2022, a total of 24,684 migrants were rescued and returned to Libya, 525 migrants died and 848 others went missing off the Libyan coast on the central Mediterranean route, the UN agency revealed in the statement.

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