Nigerian deportees swell up unemployment market

The unemployment rate in Nigeria is bound to plunge further as some countries have signaled their intention to deport Nigerians living on their shores.

Leading the pack of African countries bent on sending back Nigerians are Libya and South Africa, both of which share 45 percent of about 150,000 Nigerians living in different countries in the continent.

While South African has been cautious in handling the immigration issue, Libya is not, said an immigration expert.

For instance, of the Libya’s plans to deport more than 400 emigrants immediately, at least 250 of them, constituting 62.5 percent, are Nigerians.

But unlike the previous exercise, involving only illegal immigrants and those seeking to cross to Europe through that country, most of the current home-bound Nigerians were said to have perfected their residence papers before they were picked.

An official of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) confirmed that the Nigerian embassy in Libya did not oppose the move because they were properly briefed by the Internal Affairs Office, adding that the embassy had also informed the Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, accordingly.

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He said some of deportees had resided in the Northern African country for years having entered the country through several illegal routes while some had attempted to cross from the Arab country to Europe.

“This is the second time in 2016 that we are returning Nigerians back to base. There are more Nigerians still coming may be in the next two months. We already have a request from the Nigeria embassy that some of their nationals wanted to return to their country,” he said.

Upon their return, the deportees are expected to go through immigration processes at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, while some with criminal records would be handed over to the security operatives for debriefing.

Just last June, 162 Nigerians who were stranded in Libya voluntarily returned, during which Sara Hamo, a consultant with IOM, in Lagos, told journalists that the month of August and beyond will witness more of such deportations.

By Emma Eke…

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