Over 200 Nigerian, Niger migrants voluntarily return home from Libya

Libyan authorities announced on Wednesday that they have returned 91 voluntary illegal migrants to their country of origin, Niger, in cooperation with the International Organization for Migration.

This was stated by the head of the deportation department of illegal migrants at Misrata International Airport, Hussein Al-Amin Al-Turki, to Anadolu Agency (AA) on the sidelines of the deportation process.

Al-Turki said: "We have today flown from Misrata International Airport to Niamey International Airport, in accordance with the voluntary return of irregular migrants.

He added: "The migrants numbered 91, including 6 men, 25 women and 60 children and infants, through the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).

On Tuesday, another 162 Nigerian migrants returned voluntarily to their country, via Mitiga airport in the capital, Tripoli, after arriving in Libya and heading from there to Europe.

Libya is the main departure point for illegal migrants fleeing war and poverty in Africa and the Middle East and wishing to settle in Europe.

Ibrahim Farinluya, an official of the Nigerian National Emergency Management Agency, said in a press statement that the voluntary return of the migrants was the result of cooperation between the Abuja government and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).

He added that among the illegal migrants who returned to Nigeria were 98 women, 24 children and 12 infants, stressing that some of them were suffering from health problems.

According to a report by the Nigerian National Emergency Management Agency, about 22,000 Nigerian irregular migrants have voluntarily returned to their country from 17 countries since 2017.

The Nigerian people are faced with many challenges in their country, including economic crisis and security breakdown, leading some of them to consider migrating to other countries in search of better living conditions.