No fewer than 613 Nigerien migrants have been forcibly deported from Libya, enduring what has been described as a “dangerous and traumatising” journey across the Sahara Desert.
The mass expulsion, confirmed by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), is one of the largest of its kind recorded in the region.
According to the IOM, 613 Nigerien nationals arrived in Dirkou, a remote desert town in Niger, last weekend after being transported in a convoy of trucks.
They were part of a wave of migrant workers detained by Libyan authorities over the past month.
Azizou Chehou, a representative of the migrant support organisation Alarm Phone Sahara, highlighted the unprecedented scale of the deportation.
“This is something new. There was one expulsion of 400 people last July, but this convoy is the largest number to date,” Chehou said.
The expulsions come amid growing criticism of European Union (EU) countries for allegedly turning a blind eye to human rights abuses against migrants in Libya.
As part of efforts to reduce migration to Europe, Italy has signed agreements with both Libya and Tunisia to curb crossings in the Mediterranean.
This policy appears to have had some impact, with Italy reporting 66,317 migrant arrivals in 2024—less than half the number in 2023, according to the Italian interior ministry.
David Yambio, spokesperson for the nonprofit Refugees in Libya, condemned the EU’s migration policies, describing them as cruel and inhumane.
“This is Europe’s border policy laid bare, outsourcing mass expulsion and death to Libya, where the desert becomes a graveyard,” Yambio said.
He accused leaders like Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, Italy’s Giorgia Meloni, and former U.S. President Donald Trump of celebrating such policies, which he described as designed to erase migrants from view.
The harsh conditions of the deportation journey were underscored by Chehou, who described the risks faced by migrants during the trek through the Sahara.
“Winter in the desert is very cold, and with migrants packed like sardines, fights can break out for space, leading to injuries or people falling out of trucks. By the time they arrive in Agadez, they are often in a very sorry state”, he said.
The latest expulsions highlight the ongoing humanitarian crisis faced by migrants in Libya, as well as the growing scrutiny of EU-backed migration policies that critics say prioritize border control over human rights.
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