Tripoli, Nov 29 (IANS): The Libyan Illegal Migration Control Department has repatriated 248 illegal migrants.

Among them, 120 were deported by air back to Niger, while the remaining 128 were deported by land back to Chad, Badraddin Ben-Hamed, head of the Deportation Office of the department, told Xinhua news agency on Tuesday.

The Deputy President of the Presidency Council Musa al-Kuni, who was visiting the department at the time of the deportation, described the process as "humane and appropriate".

"I express my gratitude to all those working in the Illegal Migration Control Department for their efforts to provide proper and humane living conditions for the migrants, despite lack of capabilities," al-Kuni said.

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

So far this year, 15,057 illegal migrants have been rescued and sent back to Libya, according to the International Organisation for Migration.