160729-N-EU999-004 MEDITERRANEAN SEA (July 29, 2016) Migrants aboard an inflatable vessel approach the guided-missile destroyer USS Carney (DDG 64). Carney provided food and water to the migrants aboard the vessel before coordinating with a nearby merchant vessel to take them to safety. Carney is forward deployed to Rota, Spain, and is conducting a routine patrol in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of operations in support of U.S. national security interests in Europe. (U.S. navy photo by Chief Information Systems Technician Wesley R. Dickey/Released)
The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) on Monday said that 1,313 migrants were rescued off the coast of Libya in the past week.
IOM said in a statement, that from January 19 to 25, 1,313 migrants were intercepted and returned to Libya,
“The migrants include more than 160 women and over 60 children, IOM said, adding that two bodies of migrants were retrieved.
So far this year, 1,806 migrants have been intercepted and returned to Libya, while 32 others died on the Central Mediterranean route, IOM said.
According to IOM, due of insecurity and chaos in the country since the fall of late leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, many migrants, mostly Africans, chose to cross the Mediterranean Sea to European shores from Libya. (Xinhua/NAN)
