Libya has deported the first of 320 Nigerian illegal immigrants set to be expelled from the war-torn nation.
Authorities told AFP the coordinated deportation began on Tuesday with 163 sent “irregular migrants” sent back to their home country.
“We carried out on Tuesday the expulsion of 163 irregular migrants of Nigerian nationality from the Mitiga airport, including 107 women, 51 men and five children,” said Mohamad Baredaa.
He added that “160 Nigerians will be sent back to their country from Benina airport in Benghazi” later that day.
Mr Baredaa is head of security for a Tripoli-based anti-immigration body that was established by Libya’s rival administrations.
Video of the first group shows the illegal immigrants boarding shuttles to a plane at Tripoli’s Mitiga airport.
There are more than 700,000 immigrants in Libya, according to the International Organization for Migration, which established a “voluntary humanitarian return” scheme in 2015.
The OIM arranges and funds travel for refugees and immigrants who wish to return to their countries of origin. In 2023 9370 took advantage of the program, and 11,200 left with IOM help a year earlier.
Libya is one of the world’s least developed countries despite having massive oil reserves, and is widely considered to be a failed state.
Pakistan is also conducting a mass deportation drive and has already expelled 500,000 out of 1.7 million mainly Afghan illegal immigrants, while remigration has emerged as a political issue in Germany, and Donald Trump has promised to send back millions of illegal aliens if re-elected in November.
