Libya deports 140 illegal Nigerian migrants
Libyan authorities deported 140 illegal Nigerian migrants back home on Tuesday as part of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) voluntary return scheme.
The programme puts illegal migrants stranded in Libya on a one-way flight back to their home countries.
The migrants who are mainly from Africa, arrive in Libya as they attempt the voyage across the treacherous waters of the Mediterranean sea to European shores.
A detention centre official told Reuters 140 illegal migrants, including 28 children and 70 women, from Nigeria will be deported on Tuesday from Mitiga airport, east of the capital Tripoli.
Most migrants are placed in detention centres across Tripoli, with some requesting assistance to return to their home countries.
Some 600,000 migrants have reached Italy by sea from North Africa since 2014, most leaving from Libya’s western coast. More than 12,000 have died trying.
