TRIPOLI, Aug 9 (NNN-AFRICANEWS) — Libya deported 141 Sudanese migrants from Benghazi’s Benina airport Thursday.
It’s part of a voluntary return programme, but children were not included, an official said.
“The trip starts from the Benina airport and ends in the Khartoum airport’‘, said Ashraf Ahweidy, Head of Benghazi Department for Countering Illegal Migration.
The Sudanese Consul General Omar Saleh appreciated the combined efforts of both parties 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.
“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”, Saleh said.
“I am going back to Sudan, I am a married man and I have children. I came here to work and provide for my children, then go back to them. My children are in school and thank God, I have taken what God has destined for me and I am now going back to my children to look for new work”. Mohammed Ahmed Hussein, a deportee, said.
Libya is one of the main departure points for African migrants trying to reach Europe. But many are apprehended and brought back to Libya by the Libyan coast guard in a programme supported by the European Union.
In July, a migrant detention centre in the capital Tripoli was hit by a deadly airstrike. — NNN-AFRICANEWS
