(Xinhua/NAN)
The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said on Friday that it would inaugurate a project aimed at strengthening consular support for migrants stranded in Libya.
In a statement, the IOM said it was working with consular officials and migrant community leaders from Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, The Gambia, and Somalia, and that the project would “build upon the technical capacity of the four countries to reach and assist vulnerable migrants and provide them with enhanced consular services.”
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 migrants seeking to cross the Mediterranean Sea to European shores.
Rescued migrants end up inside overcrowded reception centres across Libya.
More than 20,000 illegal migrants have been rescued at sea this year, while hundreds of others have died or gone missing off the Libyan coast on the Central Mediterranean route, according to the IOM.