Eastern Libyan authorities have sent hundreds of Sudanese back to their war-torn home country, officials said Saturday, in a crackdown on migrants seeking to flee conflict and poverty for Europe by way of the the Mediterranean nation.
Seven hundred Sudanese who were detained recently in central and southeastern Libya, were deported Friday by land to Sudan, the Directorate for Combating Illegal Migration in eastern Libya said in a statement.
The statement said some of the deportees suffered from infectious diseases including hepatitis and AIDS. Others were deported because of either criminal convictions or “security reasons,” it said, without elaborating.
The deportation was part of an ongoing crackdown campaign on migrant trafficking in eastern Libya, which is controlled by forces of powerful military commander Khalifa Hifter.
Last week, the coast guard in eastern Libya said it intercepted a boat carrying 80 Europe-bound migrants off the eastern city of Tobruk.
The campaign includes raids on trafficking hubs across eastern and southern Libya. A raid earlier this month freed 104 Sudanese migrants, including women and children, who were held in a trafficking warehouse in the town of Ajdabiya, about 480 miles (800 kilometers) east of the capital, Tripoli, according to town security authorities.
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