The UN-affiliated International Organization for Migration (IOM) has repatriated more than 13,000 migrants from Libya to their home countries in 2018, the UN Support Mission in Libya said.
It comes as part of the IOM voluntary return program that aims to arrange the voluntary return of illegal immigrants stranded in Libya to their countries of origin.
“By Oct. 11, IOM Libya had assisted a total of 13,393 migrants in safely travelling back to 32 countries,” the mission tweeted.
Migrant shelters in Libya are crowded with thousands of migrants who have been rescued at sea or arrested by Libyan security services.
Libya has become a preferred departure point for illegal immigrants hoping to cross the Mediterranean into Europe because of the lack of security in the North African country following the 2011 uprising that toppled late leader Muammar Gaddafi.
Libya has been at war and in political turmoil since the death of Gaddafi in 2011. Separate clashes erupt between rival militias across the country; meanwhile, there are two governments: the Government of National Accord (GNA), which controls the capital of Tripoli, and the House of Representatives government which controls eastern Libya.
Heavy shelling and fighting occasionally occur in residential neighborhoods, according to Libyan Health Ministry officials. The fighting has put more pressure on aid agencies to help growing numbers of Libyans and foreigners without access to food, medicines and health care.
In August, the UN refugee agency said in a statement that it had evacuated about 300 refugees and migrants held in the Ain Zara detention center to a safer site because they “were in clear danger of getting caught in the hostilities.” Most of the evacuated were from Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia — all nations suffering from conflict or political repression.
Aid agencies say that the vast majority of the migrants, refugees and asylum seekers had tried to reach Europe by boat, but were intercepted at sea and returned to Libya. The EU has spent hundreds of millions to equip and train Libya’s coast guard and enhance border security cooperation with several African nations.
