The Aslanta Police Station, under the Directorate of Security in Al Bayda, has detained several illegal migrants within its jurisdiction. According to the directorate’s statement, the necessary examinations were conducted on the detainees, who were then transferred to the branch of the Anti-Illegal Immigration Agency.
Furthermore, the Libyan Government’s Ministry of State for Combating Illegal Immigration held a scientific seminar, on Tuesday, in collaboration with the Center for African and Research Studies. The seminar aimed to address the challenges of illegal immigration and its repercussions in preparation for the upcoming African-European Conference on Migration, scheduled to take place in Benghazi at the end of May.
The seminar, titled “Illegal Immigration: Security and Development Approaches in the Mediterranean,” featured several scholarly papers. The objective was to produce a set of recommendations to ensure the success of migration governance initiatives.
Notably, a rescue operation in southeastern Libya has successfully freed at least 107 migrants, including women and children, who had been held captive in the town of Kufra, a security force spokesperson reported on Tuesday. The operation highlights the critical human rights issues facing migrants in Libya, which serves as a major transit route for those seeking passage to Europe.
Walid Alorafi, the spokesperson for the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in Benghazi, detailed the late-night raid in Kufra’s downtown area.
“During the operation, we discovered illegal migrants suffering from various abuses, including women, children, and elderly men, some displaying signs of torture and bullet wounds,” said Alorafi. The migrants, primarily from Somalia among other sub-Saharan countries, reported being detained for as long as seven months.
Following their rescue, the individuals were handed over to the illegal migration agency to complete necessary administrative procedures. The CID also circulated video footage depicting the destruction of the building where the migrants were held captive and showed some migrants with visible injuries.
Many of the rescued migrants are in very poor health, with some requiring immediate medical attention, as evidenced by footage of aid workers assisting them into ambulances.
Kufra, the site of the operation, is located approximately 1,712 kilometers (1,064 miles) from the Libyan capital, Tripoli. Libya has become a critical hub for migrants from conflict-ridden and impoverished regions, attempting the dangerous journey across the Sahara Desert and the Mediterranean to reach Europe.
The recommendations emphasized the need to provide basic health and educational services to migrants and the activation of international agreements previously signed by Libya. These include enacting legislation that implements international treaties to protect human rights effectively.
