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http://www.newsmax.com/international/libya_illegal_migration/2008/01/18/65700.html
Libya to Deport Illegal Immigrants
Friday, January 18, 2008
TRIPOLI, Libya -- Libya on Friday defended plans to carry out a massive
expulsion of illegal immigrants, rejecting criticism from a human rights
group that doing so would violate international law.
Labor officials estimate there are 2 million foreigners in Libya and that
only 60,000 of them have work permits and legal visas. Most are Africans who
sneak through the deserts into Libya from Sudan, Chad and Niger.
On Wednesday, the state news agency Jana said authorities were working on
the "immediate deportation of all the illegal foreign residents," quoting a
member of the national assembly.
"No resident without a legal visa will be excluded," the report added.
London-based rights group Amnesty International called on Libya "not to
implement what appears to be a rushed decision as it would violate the
rights of potentially hundreds of thousands of people, including women and
children," it said in a statement Friday.
Abdel-Moneim al-Lamoushi, a government spokesman, told The Associated Press
Friday that the expulsions are legal according to national law, which
requires entry and exit visas for foreigners, and he called the decision
"final and not to be reconsidered."
"Libyan tolerance was abused by those immigrants that have been using Libya
as a passage to Europe and put Libya in a critical situation in front of the
international community," al-Lamoushi said.
Libya has regularly deported refugees and asylum-seekers in recent years and
routinely expels migrants, Amnesty said.
Libya to Deport Illegal Immigrants
Friday, January 18, 2008
TRIPOLI, Libya -- Libya on Friday defended plans to carry out a massive
expulsion of illegal immigrants, rejecting criticism from a human rights
group that doing so would violate international law.
Labor officials estimate there are 2 million foreigners in Libya and that
only 60,000 of them have work permits and legal visas. Most are Africans who
sneak through the deserts into Libya from Sudan, Chad and Niger.
On Wednesday, the state news agency Jana said authorities were working on
the "immediate deportation of all the illegal foreign residents," quoting a
member of the national assembly.
"No resident without a legal visa will be excluded," the report added.
London-based rights group Amnesty International called on Libya "not to
implement what appears to be a rushed decision as it would violate the
rights of potentially hundreds of thousands of people, including women and
children," it said in a statement Friday.
Abdel-Moneim al-Lamoushi, a government spokesman, told The Associated Press
Friday that the expulsions are legal according to national law, which
requires entry and exit visas for foreigners, and he called the decision
"final and not to be reconsidered."
"Libyan tolerance was abused by those immigrants that have been using Libya
as a passage to Europe and put Libya in a critical situation in front of the
international community," al-Lamoushi said.
Libya has regularly deported refugees and asylum-seekers in recent years and
routinely expels migrants, Amnesty said.
