TRIPOLI, Nov 25 (NNN-LANA) – The Libyan Anti-illegal Immigration Department, yesterday deported more than 200 illegal migrants to their countries of origin.
According to Nasser al-Khatroushi, head of the Deportation Office of the Anti-illegal Immigration Department, the migrants, who are from Egypt, Niger and Sudan, were deported by land to their own countries.
The deportation was done for the first time, in collaboration with the Anti-illegal Immigration Departments of Eastern and Southern Libya, the Libyan official said.
“Today (yesterday), we are very happy to see officers from Western, Eastern and Southern Libya gathered here in Tripoli, to solve the issue of illegal immigration, which is a complicated issue,” said Mohamed al-Khoja, head of the Anti-illegal Immigration Department.
Libya has become a preferred point of departure for illegal immigrants, who attempt to cross the Mediterranean Sea to reach European shores.
According to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), a total of 20,842 illegal migrants, including women and children, have been rescued at sea and returned to Libya.
In the meantime, 500 illegal migrants have died and 863 others gone missing, off the Libyan coast, on the Central Mediterranean route, the IOM said.– NNN-LANA
