Libya deports dozens of illegal Sudanese immigrants
August 17, 2014 (KHARTOUM) – The Libyan government revealed that it has deported 90 illegal Sudanese immigrants through al-Kufra town in the south-east of the country, adding that 700 people of different nationalities are also seeking to leave to Chad and Sudan.
The director of the office of shelter management and deportation at illegal immigration department in al-Kufra, Mohammed Fadhil, said on Sunday that it had deported 90 and 70 illegal immigrants into neighbouring Sudan and Chad respectively.
According to Fadhil, hundreds of others want to cross to Sudan and Chad to flee ongoing unrest sweeping the country.
He pointed that they are waiting for permission of the local council in the city to begin evacuations of these foreign nationals for humanitarian reasons.
A committee calling itself representative of Sudanese stranded in Libya issued a statement earlier this month calling on the government to evacuate its citizens from areas in Libya witnessing clashes between armed groups.
The statement stressed that all diplomatic missions have evacuated their citizens from Libya thanks to quick action from their governments except the Sudanese one because of its refusal to assume responsibility towards its citizens.
They also noted the presence of tens of thousands of Sudanese trapped in areas of clashes in both Benghazi and Tripoli among other regions in the country that are now deserted due to the displacement of people as a result of the interruption of electricity, water services and telecommunications and closure of shops.
At the time the Sudanese foreign minister, Ali Karti, said that the situation in Libya has not yet reached the stage requiring the evacuation of its citizens.
Since the fall of Gaddafi in 2011, Libya’s fragile government is unable to impose authority on groups of former rebels who refuse to disband and are allied with competing political factions battling for post-war dominance.
(ST)