Tripoli, Jul 27 (IANS): The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said that more than 2,100 illegal migrants were rescued off the Libyan coast and returned to the country in the past week.

"In the period of 18-24 July, 2,185 migrants were rescued/intercepted at sea and returned to Libya," the IOM said on Monday.

So far in 2021, a total of 18,282 illegal migrants, including women and children, have been rescued, while hundreds others went missing on the Central Mediterranean route, Xinhua news agency quoted the UN agency as saying.

Libya has been suffering insecurity and chaos since the fall of the late leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, which makes the North African country a preferred point of departure for illegal migrants who want to cross the Mediterranean Sea to European shores.

The country currently hosts 43,113 refugees and asylum-seekers who are registered with UNHCR.

Refugees are travelling alongside migrants through dangerous routes towards Europe.

Up to 90 per cent of people crossing the Mediterranean Sea to Europe depart from Libya.

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