Between March 3 and March 9, 521 migrants were intercepted and subsequently returned to Libya, the IOM said in a statement, adding among those rescued were 16 women and 28 children.

It said that the bodies of two illegal migrants were also retrieved off the Libyan coast.

So far this year, a total of 1,915 illegal migrants have been rescued, while 80 illegal migrants died and 126 others went missing off the Libyan coast.

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

(With UNI inputs)