The International Organisation for Migration (IOM), announced on Tuesday, the return of 330 migrants to Libya. The migrants were intercepted in the Mediterranean from the 27th ofJuly to the 3rd of August.
IOM stated that it had returned 9,225 migrants to Libya in 2019, lost contact with 992 others and reported that 270 migrants had drowned in the Mediterranean.
In 2020, IOM repatriated 6,848 migrants, including 6,010 men and 279 women. 115 migrants are believed to have drowned, and it lost contact with 180 others, according to the statement.
Despite the closure of Libya’s borders due to the outbreak of COVID-19, thousands of migrants continue to attempt to reach Europe. Most migrants make the perilous journey in ill-equipped, and unsafe rubber boats. The IOM said in April that its estimated death toll among migrants who have tried to cross the Mediterranean since 2014, has surpassed 20,000.