CAIRO, Aug 17 (Aswat Masriya) - The spokesperson of the Egyptian armed forces said on Wednesday that military forces arrested 183 people of different nationalities for attempting illegal migration through Alexandria.

The military forces arrested 74 people from Rasheed, and 109 people attempting to flee through Alexandria.

The International Organization for Migration said last month that nearly 3,000 migrants and refugees have perished in the Mediterranean Sea already this year while almost 250,000 have reached Europe.  

This is not the first time that the Egyptian military has announced foiling illegal migration attempts in the past few years. In July, the military thwarted two migration attempts, involving 51 people, off the Alexandrian coast.

In June, the military spokesman said that Egyptian border guard forces stopped 445 persons before they could set sail from the country's coasts en route to Europe. 

Earlier, in April, Italy said that a boat capsized off Egypt's coast killing hundreds of migrants.

Conflicts and dire economic conditions in the Middle East and African countries pushed millions of migrants and refugees to cross over to Europe to flee poverty and war.