IOM assists in voluntary return of 133 Pakistanis from Libya

TRIPOLI, March 26 (Xinhua) -- The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said Tuesday that it had assisted 133 illegal migrants in voluntarily returning from Libya to their home country, Pakistan, over the past week.

The IOM Libya said in a statement that it "supported 133 Pakistanis in returning home to Islamabad, Pakistan from Benghazi, Libya" last week through the IOM's Voluntary Humanitarian Return Program, "a humanitarian lifeline for migrants stranded in Libya who wish to return home."

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

Libyan Interior Minister Emad al-Tarabelsi recently revealed that the ministry plans to repatriate more than 20,000 illegal migrants within this year.