Almost 25,000 migrants intercepted and returned to Libya in 2025
The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) reported that so far in 2025, 24,673 migrants travelling across the Mediterranean Sea have been intercepted and returned to Libya, according to the Libya Review on November 18th.
This number has already surpassed the total amount of documented interceptions from Libya in 2024, which stood at 21,762. This year’s figures are comprised of 21,407 men, 2,162 women, and 896 children.
In addition, the IOM’s most recent Weekly Maritime Update revealed that 1,160 migrants were intercepted and returned between November 9th and 15th alone. These incidents unfolded across several different coastal locations, including Tripoli, Azzawya, Zliten, and Benghazi.
The organisation has also recorded the death of 555 migrants and the disappearance of a further 538 on the Central Mediterranean route from the start of 2025 up to November 15th.
Migrants are intercepted by the Libyan coast guard, which is party to an EU-backed migration control pact with Italy that has been criticised by Human Rights Watch as a “framework of violence.”
Under the agreement, the Italian government directly funds and trains the coast guard, which has been mired in allegations of abuse against migrants and direct attacks with live rounds against charity vessels.
During a UN Human Rights Council session held on November 11th, several countries, including Spain, Norway and the United Kingdom, urged Libya to close its migrant detention centres, citing inhumane living conditions alongside widespread abuses such as torture.
Since the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown in 2011, the North African country has rapidly developed into a major transit route for migrants seeking to cross the Mediterranean Sea into Europe.
Libya’s political fragmentation since 2011 has enabled the development of what Chatham House labelled “an economy dominated by violence”, where migrant smuggling and trafficking runs rampant.
In 2025, 49,799 migrants have disembarked onto Italian shores from Libya, with a further 13,059 arriving on the Greek island of Crete. Furthermore, the IOM revealed that the amount of migrants held in Libyan detention centres has increased from 725,304 in 2024 to 867,055 in 2025.
Libya Review, Maghrebi.org, Human Rights Watch, Chatham House
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