Thousands of Illegal Egyptian Immigrants Deported from Eastern Libya: Reports

An Egyptian security source and a security source in eastern Libya said that the forces controlling eastern Libya have expelled thousands of Egyptians who are in the country illegally in recent days, and deported them to Egypt on foot across the land border between the two countries.

The Libyan security source said that the forces found 4,000 migrants during raids on human smugglers, following an exchange of fire between the security forces and smugglers, indicating that they were all deported.

And local Libyan newspapers reported that the joint security force in the Amsaed area began Thursday to return hundreds of illegal Egyptian immigrants to their country.

channel quotesLibya eventAccording to sources, “Work is underway to deport more immigrants who were liberated from the grip of human smugglers, during the security campaign that took place in Asa’ad last Wednesday.”

The Egyptian security source said that only about 2,200 immigrants out of the four thousand who were found by the Libyan security forces were in Libya illegally and they were the ones who were deported. He added that most of the deportees were Egyptians, while some of them held other African nationalities.

He indicated that when they were deported, they were taken to a location near the border and then walked two kilometers towards Egypt.

Some social media pioneers circulated videos showing the process of deporting migrants and their march towards the border.

Migration agencies say that Libya has about half a million migrants, many of whom hope to cross to Europe by boat, while others settle in Libya in search of work in the oil-rich country.

Italy, the destination for most of those boats, says the number of migrants crossing to Europe from Libya has risen sharply this year.

The Libyan source said security forces destroyed a port used by people smugglers.

Libya has seen little peace or security since the NATO-backed uprising in 2011, and many migrants have been subjected to violence and abuse at the hands of people smugglers and other armed groups.

An array of rival armed factions control territory in the western regions of Libya while the Libyan National Army (LNA) led by Khalifa Haftar controls the east of the country.