Video Libya deports Nigerian migrants

(21 Dec 2016) LEAD IN:

Libya is sending over a hundred migrants back to Nigeria.


STORY-LINE:

At the departures hall of Tripoli's Maetiga airport, a large number of migrants are queuing to get their flights home.

The Libyan Department of Anti-Illegal Immigration, with the help of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), is sending home 140 Nigerian migrants from the Libyan capital.

The deportation decision was taken now because Libyan detention centres are getting very crowded and the cost of the feeding and taking care of migrants in such places is running up quite a bill.

There are more plans to deport more migrants in the near future especially now that African embassies in Tripoli are starting to cooperate with the immigration department.

"I'd like to give a word of advice to all the ambassadors, either they are in Libya or outside Libya, especially in the neighbouring countries; to stay in contact with us regarding the transport of their national citizens because it's costing the Libyan state large amounts of money," says Abdelrazag Shnaiti, Director of Protocol in Department of Anti-Illegal Immigration.

The highest number of migrants nationalities in Libyan detention centres are, Nigeria, Niger, Gambia and Somalia, according to Shnaiti's department.

The migrant crisis began to escalate dangerously in 2015 when high numbers of unauthorised foreign nationals attempted to travel to the European Union.

According to the United Nations, the most dangerous migration route is from Libya to Italy, where the UN estimates one in every 47 refugees dies.

The UN recently reported that migrants in Libya are subject to serious human rights violations and abuses.




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