Tripoli, May 31 (IANS): The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) has said that 727 illegal immigrants were returned to Libya after being rescued off the country's coast from May 22 to 28.

So far in 2022, a total of 7,067 illegal immigrants have been rescued and returned to Libya, including 534 women and 288 minors, IOM said on Monday in a statement.

Meanwhile, 138 illegal migrants died and 462 others went missing on the Central Mediterranean route, it added.

In 2021, a total of 32,425 illegal immigrants were rescued and returned to Libya, while 662 died and 891 others went missing off the Libyan coast on the Central Mediterranean route, according to IOM as quoted by Xinhua news agency.

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