Key facts
- Interior ministry agency spokesperson Abdulmenam al-Ghomati said 602 migrants were repatriated to Chad.
- Ghomati said the repatriation took one and a half days, with people trucked to the border with Chad.
- Ghomati said the campaign continues under orders from deputy commander-in-chief Saddam Haftar to raid homes rented by migrants.
- Libya's 100 municipalities are thought to harbour well over 900,000 migrants, per UN data collected in May and June.
Libya's eastern security authority repatriated 602 migrants to Chad on November 11, 2026, a spokesperson for the interior ministry's agency tasked with tackling illegal migration said. The spokesperson, Abdulmenam al-Ghomati, said those repatriated were apprehended during recent security operations, along with others who attempted to enter Libyan territory illegally.
Security forces apprehended the migrants in different cities and areas under the Libyan National Army of military commander Khalifa Haftar, which controls the east and large parts of the south of the country. Ghomati said the repatriation process took one and a half days, with people being taken by trucks to the border with Chad.
Pictures from the media office of the anti-illegal migration agency in Benghazi, the second-largest city in the North African country, showed pickup vehicles loaded with tens of migrants in a remote area being deported to Chad. Ghomati said the campaign is continuing, in accordance with orders from the deputy commander-in-chief, Saddam Haftar, to raid and clear out homes rented by migrants within residential neighbourhoods.
Libya, split between rival authorities in the east and west, has become a transit route for migrants fleeing conflict and poverty to Europe via desert and Mediterranean routes since the toppling of former leader Muammar Gaddafi in an uprising in 2011. The oil-rich country's 100 municipalities are thought to harbour well over 900,000 migrants, according to UN data collected in May and June.