On Saturday, the Al-Kufra Accommodation and Deportation Centre announced that a total of 3,553 illegal migrants were deported in 2020 to the countries of Sudan and Chad.
The centre said in a statement that 2,534 migrants were deported to Sudan and 1,013 migrants deported to Chad. The Kufra Centre noted that 6 migrants were deported to the Benghazi Accommodation and Deportation Centre.
The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) recently stated that Libya is home to more than 650,000 illegal migrants, 6,000 of whom are held in detention centres. Shelters in Libya are overcrowded with migrants rescued at sea or arrested on land, despite international calls to close down these centres.
Libya has become a preferred point of departure for thousands of illegal migrants, primarily Africans, to cross the Mediterranean to reach Europe. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has repeatedly stated that Libya is not a safe port to return these migrants in light of its security conditions.