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Migrant crisis: 172 Nigerians returned from Libya

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A hundred and seventy-two Nigerian migrants, including six women and a child were on Friday, flown home from Libya
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said “Almost all the migrants travelling on this charter were
detained as they were trying to cross to Europe,” IOM said in a statement.

“One hundred and forty-two had spent months in immigration detention centres,” it said, adding that the flight was organised with the Tripoli authorities and the Nigerian embassy.

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The IOM continued, that before embarking, they were given back personal belongings including mobile phones that were confiscated when they were detained.

On Thursday, they had traveled to the airport in buses from the Salaheddin and Abu Slim detention centres in the Libyan capital.

At the end of February, IOM organised a similar flight for 117 migrants from Burkina Faso who chose to return home, the organisation said.

Libya has long been a stepping stone for migrants and refugees seeking a better life across the Mediterranean in Europe.

The perilous sea journey from the North African country to Italy has taken the lives of 97 migrants and refugees this year alone, IOM said.

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