The International
Organization for Migration (IOM) in close cooperation with Libyan authorities,
Nigeria’s Embassy in Tripoli, helped 172 Nigerian migrants, including 6 women,
to return home to Nigeria from Libya on Friday, March 11. One hundred forty-two
had spent months in immigration detention centers.
Before
departure, IOM Libya staff provided clothes, shoes, underwear, and hygiene
kits. On Thursday, they had travelled from the Salaheddin and Abu Slim
detention centres in the Libyan capital. A mobile patrol from the Tripoli
Security Committee escorted the buses to Mitiga airport.
Almost all the
migrants traveling on this charter were detained as they were trying to cross
to Europe. Despite ending their journey of hope inside detention centres, these
migrants consider themselves lucky to have escaped death on the Mediterranean,
which this year has taken the lives of 97 migrants and refugees on the route
linking Libya to Italy.
The funds for this
charter were provided by the European Union and the Italian Ministry of
Interior, under the project called Prevention and Management of Irregular
Migration Flows from the Sahara Desert to the Mediterranean Sea.
The stories were
similar in the light of the current unstable situation in Libya, which caused
migrants many physical and psychological problems.
The repatriated
Nigerians were received and screened by various agencies such as Nigeria
Immigration Services, Police and the National Agency for Protection and
trafficking in Persons(NAPTIP)
The Public
Relations Officer, Nigeria Immigration Service, Mr Ekpedeme King who confirmed
the deportation said the Nigerians were returned home for overstaying their
visas, among other immigration offences.
"What I can
tell you is that some Nigerians were deported today for immigration offences.
Most of those brought overstayed in Libya" said King.
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