Libyan Interior Minister Emad al-Tarabelsi speaks during a press conference in Tripoli, Libya, on Aug. 21, 2023. Libyan Interior Minister Emad al-Tarabelsi announced Monday that 486 illegal migrants have been deported to their countries of origin. (Photo by Hamza Turkia/Xinhua)

TRIPOLI, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- Libyan Interior Minister Emad al-Tarabelsi announced Monday that 486 illegal migrants have been deported to their countries of origin.

In a press conference following the announcement, the minister said that 294 of them are from Egypt, while the others from different African countries.

Al-Tarabelsi said that the deportees include those recently left stranded near the Tunisian border after being expelled by Tunisian authorities.

"The international community and the European Union must help Libya to reduce this phenomenon, which has burdened the country with the presence of large numbers of migrants," al-Tarabelsi said.

"The Ministry of the Interior has launched an expanded security campaign ... to arrest human traffickers and refer them to court. These efforts will be intensified in the future," he said.

Since the fall of the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, the unrest-hit country has become a preferred point of departure for illegal migrants who want to cross the Mediterranean Sea to European shores. ■