Africans cross the Mediterranean Sea to European shores

International Organization of Migration (IOM) said on Tuesday, January 02, that 1,234 migrants were intercepted and returned to Libya from 24 to 30 December 2023. A total of 17,025 migrants were intercepted and returned to Libya in 2023, according to IOM.

At the same time, 974 migrants died and 1,372 went missing on the central Mediterranean route off the Libyan coast in 2023, the IOM added.

Because of the insecurity and chaos in Libya since the fall of late leader Muammar Gaddafi’s regime in 2011, many migrants, mostly Africans, chose to cross the Mediterranean Sea to European shores from Libya.