TRIPOLI, Dec. 1, 2019 (BSS/XINHUA) – An immigration reception center in
the southern Libyan city of Kurfa on Thursday announced the deportation of
140 illegal immigrants to their home countries.
“140 illegal immigrants of the center have been deported to Chad and
Sudan,” the center said in a statement.
The illegal immigrants have been deported in coordination with the
governments of their home countries, the statement said.
Thousands of illegal immigrants, mostly Africans, choose to cross the
Mediterranean Sea towards Europe from Libya as the country has been mired in
insecurity and chaos ever since the fall of its former leader Muammar Gaddafi
in 2011.
According to the International Organization for Migration, over 600,000
illegal immigrants are in Libya, “many of whom are in need of assistance
especially as conflict continues.”
Shelters in Libya are crowded with thousands of migrants rescued at sea or
arrested by the Libyan security services, despite international calls to
close those centers.