ALBAWABA - As part of an UN-backed voluntary return scheme, the Libyan government repatriated 161 Nigerian migrants back to their country, as North African countries witness a spike in irregular migration.
Before boarding the plane, the group, which included 75 women and six children, was given food and drinks by International Organization for Migration officials at Tripoli's Mitiga airport, according to AFP correspondents.
Interior Minister Imed Trabelsi of the UN-recognized administration based in the western parts of Libya, had met with the Nigerian migrants before they left the country.
"We cannot bear the burden of clandestine migration alone without international support", he told reporters at the airport. He said that out of the group, “102 were intercepted at the border as they were trying to” cross between Libya and Tunisia.
The migrants were received at the Cargo terminal of the Murtala Mohammed International Airport in Lagos, Southwest Nigeria. The reception exercise was coordinated by the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants, and Internally Displaced Persons, NCFRMI.
Nigerian migrants returned "willingly"
Nigerian embassy adviser in Libya Samuel Okeri said the group of 161 was “not forced back” home.
"We spoke to (them) and explained that migration is not bad... but you have to follow due process," said Okeri. "They are going back willingly. And as you can see, they are not sad but happy to go back to Nigeria. There is no place like home" he added.
Representing the Federal Commissioner NCFRMI, the Southwest Zonal Coordinator, Alexander Oturu explained that "the migrants would be conveyed to the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, the camp where the NCFRMI and IOM have a tripartite agreement to provide temporary shelter for the returnees before they are provided with onward transportation allowance to enable them to get to their final destination" Voice of Nigeria reported.
“The migrants who were earlier stranded in Libya while attempting to migrate to Europe through the Mediterranean Sea were provided with welcome packs containing light refreshments, change of clothes, and toiletries by the Commission" Oturu added.
