Libyan anti-illegal immigration department announced Tuesday the voluntary deportation of 145 illegal Sudanese immigrants from Libya.

As part of the voluntary repatriation program of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the 145 illegal immigrants, including women and children, took the flight from M'etiga International Airport in Tripoli towards Khartoum International Airport, the department said in a statement, giving no further detail.

The IOM has deported more than 19,000 illegal immigrants from Libya to their home countries in 2017.

The voluntary repatriation program is carried out by the IOM with an aim to arrange the return of illegal immigrants stranded in Libya to their countries of origin.

Migrant shelters in Libya are crowded with thousands of migrants who have been rescued at sea or arrested by the Libyan security services.

Libya has become a preferred departure point for illegal immigrants hoping to cross the Mediterranean Sea into Europe due to insecurity and chaos in the North African country following the 2011 uprising that toppled former leader Muammar Gaddafi.