TRIPOLI, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said Wednesday that five illegal Pakistani immigrants were voluntarily deported from Libya to their country, according to a local official.

Husni Abu-Ayana, spokesman of Libya's Anti-Illegal Immigration Department, said that the immigrants left the capital Tripoli to Islamabad through Istanbul.

The return of the immigrants is part of the organization's Voluntary Return Program, which arranges the return of immigrants stranded in Libya to their countries of origin.

Libya has become a preferred point of departure 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.

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

IOM said it helped more than 16,000 illegal immigrants return home from Libya during 2018.