Libyan authorities have deported more than 150 Nigerian women and children as part of a UN-affiliated voluntary return program for irregular migrants, officials confirmed on Tuesday.
Libya remains a key transit hub for migrants from Africa seeking to reach Europe via the Mediterranean, often facing harsh conditions and dangerous sea crossings.
Mohamad Baredaa, an official from Libya’s migration agency, told AFP that the deportees were all Nigerian women accompanied by children. The International Organization for Migration (IOM), which oversees the repatriation program, reported that the group included 160 women and 17 children.
More Repatriation Flights Planned
The migrants, dressed primarily in black tracksuits, were seen at a Tripoli detention center before being transported by bus to Mitiga Airport for their return flight.
According to Baredaa, additional repatriation flights are scheduled this week from airports in both Tripoli and Benghazi, with groups of Bangladeshi, Gambian, and Malian migrants also set to be deported.
Since the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that led to the fall of Muammar Gaddafi, Libya has struggled with political instability, making it a hotspot for human traffickers exploiting irregular migrants.
Libya Rejects Becoming a Migration Settlement Zone
The IOM estimates that over 700,000 migrants are currently in Libya, but Libyan authorities suggest the number could be much higher.
Imad Trabelsi, Libya’s interior minister under the UN-recognized government in Tripoli, recently claimed that the number of migrants in the country could exceed four million, though many remain undocumented.
In response to growing concerns, Trabelsi reassured Libyans that the country “will not bear the burden of illegal immigration alone and will not become a settlement zone.”