The nation of Libya on Tuesday deported 369 irregular migrants to their home countries of Nigeria and Mali. They included more than one hundred women and children.
According to Mohammed Baredaa, who leads Libya’s interior ministry agency focused on combating irregular migration, a total of 369 migrants were repatriated on two flights, comprising 204 individuals from Nigeria and 165 from Mali, returning them safely to their homelands.
Nine babies, 18 minors, and 108 women were among the Nigerian irregular migrants, said Baredaa.
He said that the flights were carried out “in coordination with the International Organization for Migration (IOM)”.
The UN agency provides free return flights to migrants and helps reintegrate them into their home countries with its “voluntary humanitarian return programme”.
But some migrants told reporters that they were being forcibly deported.
Libyan authorities “came at night and broke down the door”, said Hakim, 59, a Nigerian who has lived in Libya for 25 years who declined to give his surname.
He said they confiscated his passport before detaining him and his wife prior to repatriation.
Libya has been criticised over the treatment of migrant and refugees, with accusations from rights groups ranging from extortion to slavery.
Situated about 300 kilometres (186 miles) from Italy, it is a key departure point for migrants, primarily from sub-Saharan African countries, risking perilous Mediterranean Sea journeys to seek better lives in Europe.
But with mounting efforts by Libya and the European Union to curb irregular migration, many have found themselves stranded in Libya.
It’s time to resolve this problem”, Interior Minister Imad Trabelsi had said at the time, adding that Libya has turned from a “transit country to a country of settlement” — something he deemed “unacceptable”.
