Libyan authorities have deported 80 Nigerian migrants held in various detention centres across the country as part of ongoing efforts to curb irregular migration and decongest overcrowded facilities, officials said Wednesday.
The repatriation, coordinated by the Department for Combating Illegal Migration (DCIM) in collaboration with the Nigerian Consulate in Tripoli, was carried out through Mitiga International Airport.
According to Migrant Rescue Watch, an organisation monitoring migrant welfare and rights in Libya, the exercise followed judicial directives from the Libyan Judicial Police.
“Judicial Police Dept., on orders of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, transferred a group of undocumented migrant females of Nigerian nationality to DCIM custody in Tripoli. All females were served with judicial deportation orders and are awaiting deportation,” the group said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
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It added that the latest batch of deportees included migrants previously held under judicial orders.
“DCIM with Nigerian consular support repatriated 80 migrants of Nigerian nationality via Mitiga Int. Airport in Tripoli. The group includes migrants transferred by the Judicial Police who were served with judicial deportation order,” the statement read.
The mass deportation underscores Libya’s intensified crackdown on irregular migration amid mounting international concern over the treatment of detainees in its holding facilities.
Thousands of African migrants, including Nigerians, remain stranded in Libya, many held in overcrowded detention centres under harsh conditions, as authorities continue to regulate undocumented migration routes through the North African nation toward Europe.
