Migrants killed in Libyan airstrike were waiting to go home, says UN worker
At least 53 people killed in airstrike on detention centre Tuesday
Some of the migrants killed in an airstrike on a Libyan detention centre had already agreed to be repatriated to their home countries, said a UN worker involved in helping them.
"We actually had a number of migrants inside that centre that we are working with, and that in one or two days would have been on their way home," said Federico Soda, director of co-ordination at the Mediterranean office of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), an intergovernmental group affiliated with the United Nations.
As part of its work, the IOM returns migrants to their home countries, on a voluntary basis. Soda said that since 2017, the IOM has repatriated about 43,000 migrants.
The fact that some of those who died this week were waiting to go home was "among the many tragic aspects of the bombing," he told The Current's guest host Megan Williams.
At least 53 people, including six children, died when two airstrikes hit a migrant detention centre at Tajoura, a town located around 30-kilometres east of Tripoli, late Tuesday. One struck an unoccupied garage, while the other hit a hangar, holding around 120 refugees and migrants.
In a statement, Libya's UN-backed government blamed the self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA), led by Khalifa Haftar, for the attack. An LNA spokesperson denied responsibility.
Haftar's forces launched an offensive against the government in April, and now control much of the country's east and south regions.
Libya is one of the main departure points for African migrants fleeing poverty and war to reach Italy by boat. But many are intercepted at sea and brought back by the Libyan coast guard, with the approval of the European Union.
Soda estimated there are approximately 650,000 migrants in Libya right now.
"I think that what drives people is really hope on one hand, and great difficulties and desperation on the other," he said.
Prince Alfani said that the detention centre may have been attacked because of its proximity to a military facility.
Alfani is Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) medical co-ordinator in Libya.
"We're calling for an immediate evacuation and the closing of those detention centres, especially the ones that are close to the frontline and the military facilities," he told Williams.
"That's not a safe place for people — that just tried to flee their country for a better life — to be held."
Click 'listen' near the top of this page to hear the full conversation.
Written by Padraig Moran, with files from Thomson Reuters and The Associated Press. Produced by Julie Crysler, Danielle Carr and Ines Colabrese.