A group of 161 Nigerians has been returned to their home country from Libya as part of a UN-supported voluntary repatriation program.
The repatriation was facilitated by the United Nations' International Organization for Migration (IOM), and the group arrived in Lagos after departing from Tripoli.
The repatriated group consisted of approximately half women and included six children.
Libyan and Nigerian representatives met the repatriated individuals before their departure, with multiple repatriation events scheduled for this year.
The interior minister of the UN-recognized government in Libya expressed the need for shared responsibility in addressing clandestine migration.
The Nigerians who were repatriated had been in Libyan prisons, and 102 were intercepted at the border between Libya and Tunisia, a route often taken in hopes of reaching Europe.
Libya and Tunisia agreed to collaborate on sheltering stranded individuals at their border, resolving a crisis triggered by refugee expulsions.
There were reports of mistreatment of refugees in Tunisia, including racist attacks and negative rhetoric from the Tunisian president.
Libyan authorities reported finding the bodies of at least 27 individuals from sub-Saharan Africa who were abandoned in the desert.
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