Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


Libya Puts 142 Migrants on Plane Back to Guinea

by Reuters

   MISRATA, LIBYA --

   Libya put 142 illegal migrants on a flight back to Guinea on Wednesday
   with the help of the U.N. migration agency, officials said, as the
   North African country steps up deportations to ease severe overcrowding
   in its detention centers.

   The number of people stuck in Libyan detention centers has risen
   dramatically this year after armed groups largely shut down the boat
   route to Italy from the smuggling hub of Sabratha.

   The International Organization for Migration flew the Guinean migrants
   from two western cities to the city of Misrata, from where they boarded
   a plane for Conakry.

   The deportations come in the wake of a CNN report on migrants being
   sold for slave labor that sparked an international outcry.

   Migrant flows through Libya have surged since 2014. More than 600,000
   people have crossed the central Mediterranean to Italy in the past
   three years, but departures from Libya's coast dropped sharply in July
   when armed groups in Sabratha began preventing boats from leaving.

   After clashes in the western city in September, thousands of migrants
   held near the coast emerged and were transferred to detention centers
   under the nominal control of the U.N.-backed government in Tripoli.

   Amnesty International said this month that up to 20,000 people are
   being held in detention centers and are subject to "torture, forced
   labor, extortion, and unlawful killings."

   Other human rights organizations have said similar things in recent
   months.