TRIPOLI (Halbeeg News) – The Somali government has evacuated fifty people from Libya amid deteriorating security and escalating violence, an official confirmed Thursday.
In an interview with VOA Somali, Somalia’s ambassador to Libya, Muhyadin Mohamed Kalmoy said the government airlifted 50 people who stranded in the conflict-ravaged north African country.
He said the government is committed to bringing back Somali nationals from several countries.
“The government has been evacuating Somali citizens, there was a time 30 (people) return to Somalia, another time 100 and this fifty were returned,” he said.
He said his embassy discussed with IOM over the fate of remaining Somalis in Libya.
“I contacted IOM agency, they pledged to support Somali migrants but the situation here is complicated, we tried to contact agency’s officials in Rome of Italy,” he said.
The government has returned prisoners and Somali migrants back from Ethiopia, Seychelles and India earlier.
According to reports, Libya’s Bani Walid is a hotspot for smugglers moving migrants from sub-Saharan countries to the coast, where they then board boats in dangerous sea journeys to Italy.
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