Tripoli, Jun 13 (IANS): The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) has said that 10 bodies of illegal migrants were recovered and 10 others went missing off the Libyan coast during the past week.

The IOM on Monday said that 608 migrants, including women and children, were rescued at sea and sent back to Libya in the past week while trying to reach European shores, Xinhua news agency reported.

So far this year, a total of 7,292 undocumented migrants have been rescued and returned to Libya, IOM said, adding 662 migrants died and 368 others went missing off the Libyan coast on the central Mediterranean route.

The IOM also noted that 24,684 migrants were rescued and returned to Libya in 2022, while 525 migrants lost their lives and 848 others went missing along the central Mediterranean route off the Libyan coast.

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