STORY: Libya deports migrants to Niger across land border
SHOOTING TIME: Dec. 25, 2024
DATELINE: Dec. 26, 2024
LENGTH: 00:01:59
LOCATION: Tripoli
CATEGORY: POLITICS

SHOTLIST:
1. various of illegal migrants waiting to be deported
2. SOUNDBITE (Arabic): MOHAMED BREDA, Spokesman for Illegal Migration Control Department of Libya
3. various of illegal migrants

STORYLINE:

Libya deported a group of migrants to Niger by land on Wednesday, the first such deportation in years, according to the Libyan Illegal Migration Control Department.

SOUNDBITE (Arabic): MOHAMED BREDA, Spokesman for Illegal Migration Control Department of Libya
"From inside the deportation office of the Illegal Migration Control Department, after efforts were made, and for the first time in 12 years, a deportation trip was carried out by land to Niger."

The department said in a statement on its Facebook page that the deportation took place in the presence of Niger's charge d'affaires to Libya.

The migrants were deported across the land border with Niger "for violating applicable Libyan laws" after completing necessary procedures, the statement said. It added that deportations of migrants from Libya to their countries of origin would continue.

Libya became a major transit point for migrants, mostly from Africa, seeking to reach Europe by sea after the 2011 overthrow of its late leader, Muammar Gaddafi, plunged the country into chaos.

The International Organization for Migration estimates that there are 787,326 migrants in Libya, with 41 percent of them reporting they experienced shocks such as environmental, political, or economic hardship before migrating to Libya.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Tripoli.
(XHTV)