Over 150 Nigerians return from Libya

A group of 153 Nigerian migrants held in Libya were assisted to return home on 14 September 2018, through the International Organization for Migration’s (IOM) Assisted Voluntary Returnees programme. This brings the total number of Nigerians assisted home to 9,822 in the last 18 months.

Thousands of Nigerians travel out of the country in search of greater economic opportunities in Europe. However, as Nigeria is not at war and the government is not systematically persecuting its citizens, most applications for asylum are rejected, making them the nationality with the highest rejection rate of all African nationals arriving in Europe.

Nigerians often make the journey through the Sahara Desert to Libya, hoping to board a boat bound for Europe across the Mediterranean Sea. However, due to stricter controls in Libya, many now face detention in often inhumane conditions in the North African country.

It is estimated that over 700,000 migrants are now in Libya, a country rife with violence and instability as militia groups battle for control over Tripoli.

Even for those hoping to return, it is not an easy feat. Most recently, a group of Nigerian migrants were rescued in Libya after releasing a video on their mobile phone that went viral. The video showed them held in a detention centre in the coastal city of Zawiya in Libya, living in poor conditions and pleading for rescue.

“They refuse to deport us,” says a man in the video that was shared over WhatsApp and other social networks. “We are suffering here, we are dying here… they are keeping us here for business.” The video was sent to a citizen journalism initiative, France 24 Observers, who flagged the attention of the IOM in July. The migrants were eventually supported to return home on 30 August 2018.

“If not for that video we wouldn’t have been able to come back to Nigeria, I believe that,” Efe Onyeka, a 25-year-old Nigerian who shot the video, told the AFP. He was arrested while trying to get to Europe where he had dreams of becoming a footballer. He spent over four months in detention.

“I’m traumatised. I have nightmares about Libya, about the prison,” he said. “The journey is not worth it.”

On 10 September, the United Nations criticised Nigeria for failing to tackle human trafficking, after a human rights mission looked at efforts to stamp out the organised trade in people.

Migrant expert, Osita Osemene, said that many Nigerian youths leave the country because not enough is being done to keep them there, adding that efforts to rehabilitate returned migrants are being financed by foreign agencies like IOM.

TMP – 06/10/2018

Photo credit: www. vanguardngr.com –Photo caption: Returnees at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos