On Tuesday, Libyan authorities announced that, in coordination with the International Organization for Migration as part of a voluntary return program, deported 165 Nigerian migrants, more than half of them women and children.
Related:
Libya Condemns Attack on School in Uganda, at Least 41 Deaths
Colonel Haitham Belqasim, spokesman for the Libyan Anti-Illegal Immigration Agency, said in an official statement that Libyan authorities have "deported 165 illegal immigrants to Nigeria," adding that among the deported immigrants were "90 women and nine children."
According to official reports, the women and their children were placed in a room at the headquarters of the Anti-Migration Agency in Tripoli, under the guard of policewomen who monitored the distribution of meals, drinks and travel necessities.
The migrants were deported from Tripoli's Mitiga International Airport on board a private Libyan airline, Al-Buraq. “Other flights are scheduled to be organized next week to Nigeria," said Belqasim.
According to the International Organization for Migration, a total of 7,477 illegal immigrants have been rescued and returned to Libya so far this year.
Official data show that, due to the insecurity and chaos in the country since the fall of late leader Muammar Gaddafi's government in 2011, many immigrants, mostly Africans, choose to cross the Mediterranean Sea to European shores via Libya.
Last week, the United Nations Support Mission in Libya expressed its concern about the "arbitrary detention" of thousands of migrants and asylum seekers in Libya, calling on the Libyan authorities to stop these measures and treat migrants with "dignity" and "humanity.”