IOM returns 154 Bangladesh migrants from Libya

A group of migrants rescued by Libyan Coastal Guard after a boat sank off the city of Al-Khoms, Libya on 25 July 2019 [Hazem Turkia/Anadolu Agency]

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said it has sent 154 migrants from Libya to their countries of origin, Xinhua news agency reports.

According to report, last week, 154 Bangladeshi migrants returned home through the Voluntary Humanitarian Return (VHR) programme with a charter flight travelling from Benghazi Benina airport located in eastern Libya.

“Aboard the flight were also seven Indian migrants whom the IOM assisted with the same charter to reach New Delhi,” IOM said.

The flight was made possible with the support of the European Union Emergency Trust Fund, and close coordination with the embassies of Bangladesh and India in Tripoli.

Xinhua reports that the VHR programMe, run by the IOM, arranges the return of illegal immigrants stranded in Libya to their homeland.

More than 4,800 stranded migrants in Libya are registered with the IOM in preparation for their repatriation, the UN body said.

A total of 3,196 refugees and migrants were being held in 11 detention centres across Libya as of 19 October, sources from the UN refugee agency UNHCR and UN migration agency said.

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