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Libya deports 486 illegal migrants from Egypt and Nigeria
[AFRICANEWS] Libyan authorities announced on Monday what they said was the deportation of 486 illegal migrants colonists of Egyptian and Nigerian nationalities.**The Minister of Interior for the Tripoli
...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn...
-based government, Major General Imad Trabelsi, said 192 migrants colonists from Nigeria, including 102 who arrived from Tunisia, were due to be deported.

He added a further 294 who had entered the country "illegally" from Egypt would be sent back to authorities in Cairo.

Libyan authorities on Monday repatriated 161 Nigerians, officials said, part of a UN-backed voluntary return scheme as some North African countries see a spike in irregular migration.

Interior Minister Imed Trabelsi, of the UN-recognised government based in the war-torn country's west, met the migrants colonists before their departure.

"We cannot bear the burden of clandestine migration alone" without international support, he told news hounds at the airport.

He said that out of the group, "102 were intercepted at the border as they were trying to" cross between Libya and Tunisia.

The North African neighbours on August 10 agreed to share responsibility for providing shelter for hundreds of migrants colonists stranded at their border, ending a month-long crisis triggered by mass expulsions of migrants colonists by Tunis.

Some 2,000 migrants colonists, primarily from sub-Saharan African countries, had been driven to the remote desert area of Ras Jedir by Tunisian authorities and left there to fend for themselves, according to witnesses, rights groups and UN agencies.

Since the start of July, at least 27 have been found dead in the border area and another 73 were missing, a humanitarian source told AFP earlier this month.

An official with Nigeria's embassy in Tripoli said the group of 161 was "not forced back" home.

"We spoke to (them) and explained that migration is not bad... but you have to follow due process," said embassy adviser Samuel Okeri.


Posted by: Fred 2023-08-23
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=676533