Around 32,425 illegal immigrants were rescued at sea and returned to Libya in 2021, almost triple the figure from the previous year, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Wednesday.
In its annual report, the UN organization counted 655 migrants who died last year trying to reach Europe via Libya, while 897 are still missing.
In 2020, 11,891 migrants were rescued from the Mediterranean, 381 others died, and 597 people went missing in the same route, according to the IOM.
