TRIPOLI, Libya — Libyan authorities deported more than 150 Nigerian women and children on Tuesday under a United Nations-affiliated “voluntary return” program for irregular migrants, according to an immigration official and UN sources.
Libya serves as a key departure point on North Africa’s Mediterranean coast for migrants, primarily from other parts of Africa, who risk perilous sea journeys in hopes of reaching Europe. The instability and violence that have plagued Libya since the 2011 NATO-backed overthrow of dictator Moamer Kadhafi have made the country fertile ground for human traffickers.
Mohamad Baredaa of Libya’s migration agency reported that the deported individuals were exclusively Nigerian women accompanied by children. Sources from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the UN agency involved in the repatriation effort, indicated that the group comprised 160 women and 17 children.
The migrants, mostly clad in black tracksuits, gathered in a waiting area at a Tripoli detention center before being transported by bus to Mitiga International Airport in the Libyan capital.
Baredaa also noted that additional repatriation flights are scheduled to depart this week from Mitiga and an airport in Benghazi, in eastern Libya, carrying groups of Bangladeshi, Gambian, and Malian migrants.
According to the IOM, there are over 700,000 migrants currently in Libya. However, Libyan authorities estimate that the actual number is significantly higher. Imad Trabelsi, the interior minister of Libya’s UN-recognized government in Tripoli, stated this week that there might be “more than four million migrants” in the country, acknowledging that precise figures are lacking since many are undocumented.
To address domestic concerns, Trabelsi emphasized on Monday that Libya “will not bear the burden of illegal immigration alone and will not become a settlement zone.”
