Libyan authorities have deported 80 Nigerian nationals detained in various holding facilities across the country as part of ongoing efforts to curb irregular migration and decongest detention centres.
The repatriation, coordinated by the Department for Combating Illegal Migration (DCIM) in partnership with the Nigerian Consulate in Tripoli, took place on Wednesday through Mitiga International Airport in Tripoli.
According to Migrant Rescue Watch, a humanitarian organisation monitoring migrant welfare and rights in Libya, the deportation followed directives issued by the Libyan Judicial Police and endorsed by the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
In a statement posted on X, the organisation confirmed that a group of undocumented Nigerian female migrants had earlier been transferred from the Judicial Police Department to DCIM custody for processing and eventual repatriation.
“Judicial Police Department, on orders of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, transferred a group of undocumented female migrants of Nigerian nationality to DCIM custody in Tripoli. All were served with judicial deportation orders and are awaiting deportation,” the group stated.
The 80 deportees, comprising both men and women, were part of a broader judicial operation to remove undocumented migrants from detention facilities across Libya’s western region.
The exercise is part of renewed efforts by the Libyan government, working with foreign missions and international organisations, to regularize the status of foreign nationals and improve conditions in overcrowded detention centres, which have drawn global concern over alleged human rights abuses.
Authorities in Tripoli have in recent months stepped up operations targeting irregular migrants, with the DCIM and consular missions facilitating the safe return of hundreds of foreign nationals to their home countries.
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