Somalia, Libya discuss repatriation of Somali migrants

Somalia and Libya have discussed the deportation of Somali immigrants from Libya as hundreds of Somali migrants stranded in the north Africa country.

Somali Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism, Da’uud Aweys and Deputy leader of Libya’s Government of National Unity (GNU) have held talks in Tripoli, the capital city pf Libya.

The officials discussed “bilateral relations” and necessary mechanism to assist the Libyan authorities in facilitating the procedures for deporting illegal immigrants to their countries of origin.

Al-Gotrani and Aweys also discussed the necessary arrangements and procedures for the return of the headquarters of the General Secretariat of the Community of Sahel-Saharan States (SEN-SAD) to Tripoli.

For the last decade, Libya has become a major transit point for migrants from Africa and the Middle East who are trying to get to Europe to flee instability and violence.

Since 2014, more than 800,000 people have crossed the central Mediterranean to Italy.

But the number of illegal migrants housed in Libyan detention centers has risen dramatically in recent years since armed groups in the western city of Sabratha began preventing boats from departing for Europe.