Libya deports 700 Sudanese migrants in crackdown on trafficking
Seven hundred Sudanese who were detained recently in central and southeastern Libya, were deported Friday by land to Sudan, the Directorate for Combating Illegal Migration in eastern Libya said in a statement.
The statement said some of the deportees suffered from infectious diseases including hepatitis and AIDS. Others were deported because of either criminal convictions or 'security reasons,' it said, without elaborating.
The deportation was part of an ongoing crackdown campaign on migrant trafficking in eastern Libya, which is controlled by forces of powerful military commander Khalifa Hifter.
Last week, the coast guard in eastern Libya said it intercepted a boat carrying 80 Europe-bound migrants off the eastern city of Tobruk.
The campaign includes raids on trafficking hubs across eastern and southern Libya. A raid earlier this month freed 104 Sudanese migrants, including women and children, who were held in a trafficking warehouse in the town of Ajdabiya, about 480 miles (800 kilometers) east of the capital, Tripoli, according to town security authorities.
Libya has in recent years become a transit point for those fleeing wars and poverty in the Middle East and Africa, and seeking a better life in Europe. Human traffickers have benefited from more than a decade of instability, smuggling migrants across Libya's borders with six nations, including Chad, Niger, Sudan Egypt, Algeria and Tunisia.
The North African country was plunged into chaos following a NATO-backed uprising that toppled and killed longtime autocrat Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. Oil-rich Libya has been ruled for most of the past decade by rival governments in eastern and western Libya, each backed by an array of militias and foreign governments.
Thousands of Sudanese have fled to Libya since their country plunged into chaos in April 2023 after simmering tensions between the Sudanese military and a powerful paramilitary group exploded into street fighting across the country.
They are among the more than 240,000 Sudanese migrants who live in Libya, according to the U.N.'s International Organization for Migration.
Solve the daily Crossword
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
15 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Security personnel shot at Palestinians at Gaza aid distribution centre, claims ex-guard
A former US soldier who was employed to work within the Gaza aid system approved by Israel has said he saw security personnel shoot at Palestinians at a distribution centre. The unnamed American man, who served for 25 years in the US army, has said how he witnessed force being used against unarmed innocent civilians in the Gaza Strip. "There is no fixing this, this needs to be put an end to," he said in a video aired by Israeli free-to-air TV station Channel 12. It comes as the United Nations criticised an aid distribution scheme run by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) that has been supplying aid in the Strip since late May, claiming it is a "sadistic death trap" where "snipers open fire randomly on crowds". More than 1,000 people have been reported killed while trying to receive food aid since the end of May, according to the UN, with the territory facing a starvation crisis. The unnamed American said as Palestinians were finishing getting their aid, security personnel "began shooting in their direction, shooting at them, shooting at their feet… to get them to leave". In another incident, he said a man was on his hands and knees picking up individual needles when security personnel wanted Palestinians to leave the site. He said a contractor "sprayed an entire can of pepper spray into his face - that's lethal". He also recounted a third incident, describing how he was standing next to two women when a contractor threw a stun grenade and it landed between him and the women. "This thing hit her and she just drops, just lifeless, collapsed to the ground. It looked like she had been killed". He said it was at that point that he decided he could no longer be part of the distribution system. Earlier this month, the Associated Press (AP) reported that it spoke anonymously to two US contractors guarding aid distribution sites who said their colleagues regularly threw stun grenades and pepper spray in the direction of the Palestinians. They said the security staff hired were often unqualified, unvetted, heavily armed and seemed to have an open licence to do whatever they wished, the AP reported. Videos provided by one of the contractors and taken at the sites showed hundreds of Palestinians crowded between metal gates, jostling for aid amid the sound of bullets and stun grenades and the sting of pepper spray, the agency added. The unnamed American man speaking to Channel 12 said the centres are in remote areas. "The sites were not set up in locations, nor were they set up in a way that was conducive to distributing or delivering humanitarian aid to a needy population," he said. Residents are not allowed there by car and so people are on foot, he added. "Most of them don't have shoes, no water, going through active warzone areas." Read more:Gaza faces 'man-made' mass starvation due to blockade - WHO'More than 100 people die of hunger in Gaza'Israeli soldier describes arbitrary killing of civilians in Gaza He also said that if the United Nations method of aid distribution had the support, security and coordination that the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) is getting, then the UN process would be very successful. UNRWA, the UN relief agency for Gaza, has criticised the US-backed aid distribution scheme run by GHF that has been supplying aid since late May, when Israel, which controls supplies into the territory, lifted an 11-week blockade. UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini said: "The so-called 'GHF' distribution scheme is a sadistic death trap. Snipers open fire randomly on crowds as if they are given a licence to kill." The GHF uses private US security and logistics companies and largely bypasses a UN-led system that Israel alleges has let Hamas-led militants loot aid shipments intended for civilians. Hamas denies the allegation. GHF said in a statement: "This is a disgruntled former contractor who was terminated for misconduct a month ago. GHF launched an immediate investigation as soon as these allegations were brought to our attention. Based on time-stamped video footage and witness statements, we have concluded that the claims made are categorically false. "At no point were civilians under fire at a GHF distribution site. The gunfire heard in the video was confirmed to have originated from the IDF, which was outside the immediate vicinity of the GHF site. "The gunfire was not directed at individuals, and no one was shot or injured. We take the safety and security of our operational sites extremely seriously. When behaviour falls short of our standards, we take action. The contractor seen shouting in the video is no longer part of our operations. "We remain focused on our core mission - delivering food to the people of Gaza in a safe, direct, and uninterrupted manner, as we have done since launching operations on 27 May. Since then, we have distributed nearly 85 million meals to residents of the Gaza Strip."


Fox News
17 minutes ago
- Fox News
Man deported 3 times now convicted after illegal US reentry during Biden admin
A man who entered the country illegally during the Biden administration after being deported three times before was convicted, Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced. Santo Beato Aybar-Aybar, 49, was most recently deported on Sept. 21, 2021, but returned without ever being "inspected, admitted or paroled" by federal immigration authorities. The Dominican national was arrested by ICE Boston, and he pleaded guilty in June in federal court. "Santo Beato Aybar-Aybar repeatedly displayed a blatant disregard for U.S. immigration laws, and that resulted in his conviction for illegally reentering the country after deportation," ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Boston acting Field Office Director Patricia H. Hyde said in a statement on Sunday. "We will not stand idly by as criminals subvert our immigration laws and take refuge in our neighborhoods. ICE Boston will continue to prioritize public safety by arresting and removing illegal alien offenders from our New England communities." Aybar-Aybar could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and three years of "supervised release" when he is sentenced on Sept. 11. Even after he serves his sentence in prison, he will be deported once again, according to an ICE press release. ICE Boston has been very active under the Trump administration, with federal leaders often going toe to toe with local Democrats. Boston and other cities in Massachusetts are considered sanctuary cities, meaning they have laws that limit local authorities' ability to comply with federal law enforcement on certain immigration-related matters. On July 17, ICE Boston announced another conviction of Guatemalan national Manuel Ruiz-Luis, 52, who was deported in both April 1996 and March 2012, but he came back into the country illegally, and it's unclear when. ICE Boston noted that the man, who was living in New Bedford, was previously criminally convicted for "operating under the influence" and driving without a license four different times. Ruiz-Luis will be sentenced on Sept. 18, and he could face two years behind bars, a $250,000 fine, and a year of "supervised release" and will be deported after prison time. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP"Furthermore, Ruiz-Luis chose to endanger our law-abiding residents by driving his vehicle under the influence of alcohol. ICE Boston will continue to prioritize public safety by arresting and removing criminal alien offenders from our New England neighborhoods," Hyde stated.

Associated Press
17 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Judge bars ICE from immediately taking Abrego Garcia into custody if he's released from jail
GREENBELT, Md. (AP) — A federal judge in Maryland has prohibited the Trump administration from taking Kilmar Abrego Garcia into immediate immigration custody if he's released from jail in Tennessee while awaiting trial on human smuggling charges, according to an order issued Wednesday. U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis ordered the U.S. government to provide notice of three business days if Immigration and Customs Enforcement intends to initiate deportation proceedings against the Maryland construction worker. The judge also ordered the government to restore the federal supervision that Abrego Garcia was under before he was wrongfully deported to his native El Salvador in March. That supervision had allowed Abrego Garcia to live and work in Maryland for years, while he periodically checked in with ICE. Abrego Garcia became a prominent face in the debate over President Donald Trump's immigration policies following his wrongful explusion to El Salvador in March. Trump's administration violated a U.S. immigration judge's order in 2019 that shields Abrego Garcia from deportation to El Salvador because he likely faces threats of gang violence there.