Libya's Immigration Control Department on Monday announced the deportation of 47 illegal immigrants from Libya to Egypt.

The immigrants, including women and children, have been deported by land across the Egyptian border, said the department in the eastern city of Benghazi.

The International Organization for Migration recently said that Libya holds more than 650,000 illegal immigrants, 6,000 of whom are women and children, in detention centers.

Some illegal immigrants, mostly from African countries, intent to reach Europe by crossing the Mediterranean Sea from Libya, a country that has been mired in chaos since the fall of its former leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

Shelters in Libya are crowded with thousands of migrants rescued at sea or arrested by the Libyan security services.