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Libyan authorities have deported 248 undocumented migrants to their home countries Niger and Chad in a joint effort by rival administrations in the war-torn country
Libyan authorities have deported 248 undocumented migrants to their home countries Niger and Chad in a joint effort by rival administrations in the war-torn country. The North African country has become a hub for tens of thousands of migrants seeking to reach Europe by sea every year, often falling into the hands of trafficking gangs that extort them for money.
An official with Tripoli’s government agency against clandestine migration said 120 Nigeriens had left Libya for Niamey in coordination with the UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM). In coordination with Libya’s eastern-based authorities, 128 migrants would be taken to the border with Chad. The North African country has become a hub for tens of thousands of migrants seeking to reach Europe by sea every year, often falling into the hands of trafficking gangs that extort them for money.
Moussa al-Koni, vice president of the Libyan presidential council, told a news conference that Libya paid a high price because of these groups that try to profit not only off nationals of Niger and Chad but also from more distant countries in Africa and Asia, by smuggling them into Europe.
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According to IOM figures, more than 700,000 migrants — mostly from Niger and Egypt — were present on Libyan territory between May and June of this year. Libyan Interior Minister Imed Trabelsi recently met in Tripoli with the IOM’s regional representative Othman Belbeisi in a push to establish a mechanism that would facilitate the repatriation of irregular migrants.
