198 illegal migrants rescued off Libyan coast

TRIPOLI, Oct. 23 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said Saturday that 198 illegal migrants have been rescued and returned to Libya.

Those people, who were aboard two boats, were "brought back to Libya tonight disembarking in Zawiya and in Tripoli," the UN refugee agency tweeted.

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 illegal migrants who want to cross the Mediterranean Sea to European shores.

Rescued migrants end up inside overcrowded reception centers across Libya, despite repeated international calls to close those centers.