The Libya government on Thursday deported 141 Sudanese migrants from Benghazi’s Benina airport as part of a voluntary return programme. An official confirmed that children were not included.
“The trip starts from the Benina airport and ends in the Khartoum airport,” said Ashraf Ahweidy, Head of Benghazi Department for Countering Illegal Migration, reported Africa News.
The Sudanese Consul General Omar Saleh appreciated the combined efforts of Libyan authorities, Sudan’s general consulate and the International Organization for Migration.
“This is the first trip from the city of Benghazi as part of voluntary returns programme of all illegal migrants who do not hold legal residency on Libyan soil,” Saleh added. “The efforts of the Libyan authorities are appreciated, as well as Sudan’s general consulate when it comes to Sudanese migrants and to the International Organization for Migration.”
Notably, Libya is one of the main departure points for African migrants trying to reach Europe. But many of the migrants are brought back to Libya by the Libyan coast guard in a programme supported by the European Union.
Libya is currently going through a major political turmoil as the forces of rebel Gen Khalifa Haftar launched a war to capture the capital, Tripoli, from forces aligned with the UN-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) in April.
In July, a deadly airstrike launched by the Libyan National Army (LNA) on a migrant detention center in the capital Tripoli killed more than 40 migrants. The part of the detention center that was hit held some 150 male refugees and migrants from African countries such as Sudan, Eritrea, and Somalia. In another recent attack, an airstrike killed around 40 people and injured more than 35 others in southwestern Libya last Sunday.
The United Nations estimates almost 5,000 migrants are currently living in detention centers in Libya.
In related news, Rwanda and Libya are currently working out an evacuation plan for some hundreds of migrants being held in detention centers in the North African country. Rwanda will receive 500 refugees as part of the commitment by President Paul Kagame in late 2017.
