At least 350 Somali migrants in Libyan government jails-Amb.Faqi

At least 350 Somali nationals are in Libyan government jails as they await repatriation, Somali ambassador to the EU Dr. Ali Faqi has said.

Speaking to Goobjoog News, Dr. Faqi said majority of the migrants are male (280) while the rest are female adding at least 100 are willing to return home.

“We know of 350 Somali nationals who are under Libya authorities but we do not have any information about those who could be in the hands of smugglers,” Faqi said. The envoy who was tasked by President Mohamed Farmaajo to lead the evacuation mission of Somalis in the northern Africa country following reports of sale of migrants added that some of them wish to be sent to UNHCR camps in Niger. Others hope to proceed to a third country after stay in the camps, the envoy noted.

Some do not want to come home, said Faqi. “They have spent a lot of money and not wish to come back home. Majority of those who do not want to come home are female; they say they have lost a lot of money and can’t think of returning.”

Others, Faqi noted had left home without knowledge of their family. “They fear recrimination back home because they never informed their families about the departure.”

The joint Somali government and International Organisation of Migration (IOM) mission repatriated 11 individuals to Somalia mid this month. Another 40 to 50 will come back home in the next round, Faqi said.

Most of the  migrants are from Mogadishu, Somaliland, Mogadishu and Zone Five -the Somali occupied region of Ethiopia.

Asked about possible cases of deaths, Faqi said he was not privy to such information since getting information in the conflict ravaged country was difficult.

GOOBJOOG NEWS