Panafrican News Agency

IOM repatriates 126 Nigeriens from Libya

Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said in a statement on Friday that 126 illegal migrants were repatriated from Libya to Niger on Thursday as part of the Voluntary Return Programme.

It said that the group was flown to Niger from Misratah International Airport, 220 km east of Tripol.

The African Development Fund supported the return of the migrants who were accompanied by a medical team to  take care of two sick people.

The "voluntary return" programme is being carried out by IOM to organise the return of migrants stranded in Libya to their respective countries.

More than 5,000 migrants were repatriated in the first half of 2019 compared to 16,000 migrants returned to their respective countries in 2018.

According to IOM, 650,000 migrants are presently in Libya outside government reception centres, which are full of migrants rescued by security services off the Mediterranean or arrested inside the country.

-0- PANA AT/IN/TBM/BBA/AR 18Oct2019