The Trump administration has sought an agreement to allow immigrants to be sent to third countries for detention.
Libyan iauthorities, a country still divided after years of civil war, has denied reports of undocumented immigrants deported by the United States.
Reuters news agency reported Wednesday that deportation flights from the US to North African countries could begin this week despite the government warning of unsafe conditions.
The National Unified Government, which controls western Libya, said in a statement it had refused to use the territory as a destination for deporting migrants without knowledge or consent.
“The National Unity Government has firmly denied any agreement or coordination with US authorities regarding the deportation of immigrants to Libya,” he said in a statement.
The Libyan national army in Haftar, which controls East Libya, also rejected the report, saying that migrants would not be received through airports and ports secured by the military, which were completely false and completely unacceptable.”
A Reuters report citing three anonymous US officials said the US military could fly migrants to Libya on Wednesday for detention, but those plans were likely to change. The number and nationality of immigrants who could be deported is unknown.
President Donald Trump’s administration has sought a third country that can deport and detain undocumented immigrants, part of the administration’s greater push to enact a solid vision for immigration enforcement.
And on April 30, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced at a cabinet meeting in the White House that the United States was demanding that undocumented immigrants be brought along.
“We are saying in cooperation with other countries. We want to send you some of the sleazy people. Would you do this as a boon to us?” Rubio said. “And the farther away from America, the better.”
“Fear tor, forced labor, illegal killings.”
Libyan authorities have long been an enthusiastic and controversial partner in immigration enforcement, working with the European Union to intercept and detain migrants and refugees seeking to cross the Mediterranean Sea and reach Europe.
A 2022 statement from Human Rights Watchdog Amnesty International states that “men, women and children are facing arbitrary detention, torture, cruel and inhumane conditions of detention, rape and sexual violence, forced labor and illegal killings as men, women and children return to Libya.”
The US government itself has also documented the dangerous situation in Libya, with a report recorded by the State Department last year focusing on “severe and life-threatening prison conditions” and “arbitrary arrests and detention.”
Such conditions have not prevented the Trump administration from sending undocumented immigrants to prisons known for abusive situations in countries like El Salvador.
It is not entirely new for a third country to sign cooperation with undocumented immigrants and asylum seekers.
Earlier this week, Rwanda said it was discussing the possibility of receiving undocumented immigrants from the United States. The Rwandan government previously concluded an agreement with the UK to retain asylum seekers while the claims were being processed, but the deal ultimately got stuck when it faced backlash and legal challenges.
Source link
