Libyan authorities says they will deport more than 100 illegal immigrants from Senegal who have been held at a prison in Misrata, as it tries to tackle an influx.
“A total of 135 illegal immigrants from Senegal will be deported through Ras Ajdir in Tunisia in collaboration with the embassy of Senegal and Tunisian authorities,” the head of Misrata’s department to combat illegal immigration, Mohammad Baqqar, said on Thursday (February 26), as the migrants were preparing to board buses at the prison.
The prison, is home to more than 800 illegal immigrants from various nationalities including Senegal, Nigeria, Niger and other African countries.
People traffickers use Libya’s remote desert borders with Egypt, Sudan, Niger and Chad to smuggle refugees into Libya from where many try to reach Europe by boat.
In 2014, there were approximately 300,000 irregular crossings into the European Union, with United Nations data showing at least 218,000 people entering via the Mediterranean.
A record number of migrants look set to flow into Europe this year, with human traffickers becoming increasingly aggressive as they take advantage of chaos in Africa and the Middle East, according to Frontex, the European Union’s border cooperation agency.
The Mediterranean crossing claimed an estimated 3,300 lives last year, and earlier this month more than 300 people are believed to have died after leaving Libya in inflatable rafts.
(Reuters)
