Libya Deports 15 Moroccan Migrants in Latest Expulsion

The Moroccans were placed in a detention center located east of Tripoli before being transferred to the repatriation office of the Anti-Illegal Immigration Service under the Ministry of the Interior, according to a statement published by this service on its Facebook page. The Moroccans were expelled on a flight from Mitiga International Airport, after all the necessary formalities were completed, it is specified.

According to several human rights organizations, a significant number of foreigners, including Moroccans, are held in closed detention centers set up by the Libyan government. The associations also point to the existence of unofficial detention centers controlled by armed militias. The number of Moroccans detained in these centers is unknown to date.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights had denounced the arbitrary or collective expulsions of irregular migrants from Libya in a report entitled "Insecure and Degrading: The Forced Repatriation of Migrants from Libya." According to this document, these expulsions take place "without any precise assessment of the migrants’ conditions or their protection needs."

As part of the reforms aimed at strengthening the fight against illegal immigration in Libya, the Anti-Illegal Immigration Service has sent a circular to the owners of factories, commercial and service companies, inviting them to regularize the situation of their foreign workers before the end of this January.