ABOUT 369 irregular migrants, consisting of 204 Nigerians, have been deported from Libya to Nigeria and Mali.
They include nine babies, 18 minors, and 108 women, as well as 165 Malians.
They were deported on Tuesday, July 30, according to the head of the Libyan Interior Ministry organisation, Mohammed Baredaa.
The migrants were returned to their countries with assistance from the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
“Nine babies, 18 minors, and 108 women were among the Nigerian irregular migrants and the flights were carried out in coordination with the International Organization for Migration (IOM),” Baredaa said.
Meanwhile, some of the migrants who spoke to newsmen said that they were deported forcefully.
A 59-year-old Nigerian, Hakim, who lived in Libya for 25 years claimed that Libyan police “came at night and broke down the door,” confiscating his passport and arresting him and his wife before deportation.
This latest deportation operation raises the overall number of migrants returning from Libya to more than 1,000 this year alone.
In 2023, The ICIR reported that the Nigerian government in collaboration with the IOM evacuated 152 stranded Nigerians from Libya.
The head of Nigeria’s Mission in Libya, Kabiru Musa, said that the 152 Nigerians were vulnerable to exploitation and degrading treatment, including forced labour and prostitution as a result of their status as undocumented immigrants, adding that it was the third exercise the Nigerian government and IOM had carried out in 2023, with a successful evacuation of nearly 500 Nigerians stranded in Libya to Nigeria.
Multimedia journalist covering Entertainment and Foreign news