LIBYA: Libyan authorities arrest 164 people from Niger for trying to cross into Libya illegally. Two employees working for Niger's embassy in Tripoli were also among those arrested

Record ID: 348543

  • Title: LIBYA: Libyan authorities arrest 164 people from Niger for trying to cross into Libya illegally. Two employees working for Niger's embassy in Tripoli were also among those arrested
  • Date: 31st July 2012
  • Summary: PASSPORT
  • Embargoed: 15th August 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Libya
  • Country: Libya
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA2YDZAC909NXHF1RVJZ2E306UD
  • Story Text: A total of 164 people from Niger were arrested by the Libyan authorities on Friday (July 27) as they tried to cross into Libya illegally, Libyan officials have said. Among the arrested were two employees working for Niger's embassy in Tripoli. Libyan officials accuse the two employees of having helped the immigrants enter Libya illegally.
    Mohamed Umar, one of the people arrested, said they were allowed to cross the Libyan without passport check.
    "They (immigrants) are paying money to cross to Libya, but frankly there were checkpoints on the road and at times, they were searching us, but they were not asking about our passports or documentations, they were only checking our identity cards and then they allowed us to proceed. Yes exactly, we have entered without passports," Umar told Reuters Television.
    The head of Zawiyah borders security chamber, Taher Germedah, said Libya needed help to deal with the sub-Saharan African immigrants who cross the country's borders, many of them headed for Europe.
    "Frankly, the Libyan borders are not protected; the Libyan borders are fragile, there is nobody to guard it, this illegal influx would trigger a security danger, and it will do, because we do not know the targets of those people (immigrants) and what they are planning for. The government should be strict in tackling this issue, said Germedah," Germedah The arrested people are detained in al-Zawia city (40 km west of Tripoli) and will be questioned next week, Libyan officials said. Niger and Libyan officials are in talks over the possibility of freeing the embassy's employees, but the talks have not resulted in their release yet.
    The growing influx of illegal immigrants into the Libyan cities triggered security concerns following the ouster of the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in last year's uprising.
    Thousands of illegal immigrants managed to enter Libya illegally during the uprising as borders were hardly monitored. Libyan borders are now being more strictly monitored from all sides.
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