Undersecretary of the Ministry of Interior for Illegal Immigration Affairs Mohammed Al-Shaibani and European Union’s ambassador to Libya Alan Bugeja discussed on Wednesday the problems facing the overcrowded detention centers across Libya.
During their meeting in Tripoli, they highlighted the substantial illegal immigration of Africans who pass Libya’s southern borders, exploiting the lack of security in the country to try to cross the Mediterranean Sea regardless of the risks they might face during their journey.
This influx of immigrants poses a great threat to Libya as some of them might hold acute diseases to Libya and other could join the armed and terrorist groups in Libya, they referred.
Meanwhile, Libya deported on Wednesday 31 illegal immigrants from Somalia, Sudan, and Eritrea.
This action is part of plan set by Libyan authorities in the cooperation with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to repatriate illegal immigrants to alleviate their suffering in the overcrowded detention centers.
With being unable to enter Europe, namely Italy, due to the European Union’s migration policy or being rescued at the Mediterranean by the EU-backed Libyan Coast Guard, hundreds of migrants and refugees have returned to Libya and have been automatically placed in detention centers.
In these overcrowded centers, they face severe abuses, including rape and torture, extortion, forced labour, slavery, and dire living conditions.
Due to the fighting that shook Tripoli in August between rival groups, hundreds of migrants at detention centers have been abandoned without food or water.
