Switzerland - On 22 March, IOM Director General William Lacy Swing arrived in Tripoli, Libya, to meet with Libyan authorities and partners regarding the complex migration and displacement situation within the country. This important visit, sadly, was marred by continuing reports of tragedies at sea – including shipwrecks this week that may have taken as many as 240 lives.

“Libya, once a booming economy which many hopeful migrants viewed as a prized destination, is today a country beset by a grave security situation, a collapsing economy and virtually no service provision which is worsening an increasingly complex migration situation,” Ambassador Swing said upon arrival in Tripoli.

“As humanitarians, we can no longer turn our back on the communities affected by the current migration crisis in Libya. This is why IOM is enhancing its support to the most vulnerable people in the country – be they migrants or Libyans,” he continued.

Through his visit, Ambassador Swing sought to raise the profile of the magnitude of the needs of people in Libya, including migrants and Libyans impacted by the conflict and discuss with the Libyan authorities how IOM can strengthen its technical support to these communities within Libya.

Ambassador Swing met with the Chairman of the Presidential Council of the Government of National Accord, Fayes Al Sarraj, the Interior Minister of the Government of National Accord and officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Ambassador Swing also met with migrants at Triq Al Sekka  detention centre, where he also spoke to the Head of the Directorate for Combatting Illegal Migration, Ahmed Issa, about how IOM can continue to support the centre’s migrants through, for example, direct assistance, infrastructure development and voluntary humanitarian return.

IOM Libya this week released new findings from its Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM), reporting an estimated 303,608 internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Libya, a majority of whom have been displaced from areas in the north-east and north-west of the country, particularly in Sirte and some parts of Benghazi.

Displaced Libyans are suffering from a lack of access to essential services, including critical medical assistance, and to economic opportunities. IOM works with local government and communities to promote stability and development for IDPs, migrants and local host communities in Libya, as well as to help establish a better system of managing the migration situation on the ground.

Economic prosperity pre-2011, porous borders and the complex realities of the political and economic situation in Libya and other regional countries have seen Libya hosting various mixed migration flows, consisting of forced migrants, labour migrants, migrants seeking onward travel to Europe and migrants who are long term residents of the country.

It is estimated that between 700,000 to 1 million migrants have remained in Libya despite the insecurity they face.

Due to the situation in the country, many migrants are turning to IOM to help them return home. This week, IOM has assisted stranded migrants to return home to both Nigeria and Cote d’Ivoire from Tripoli. IOM has helped 13,691 migrants get home to safety since 2011.

Increased support to voluntary humanitarian return is essential to improving migration management, and a long-term commitment to forging links between effective reintegration schemes, stability and local development potential in communities of return is of vital importance.

On 21 March, IOM helped 151 stranded Ivorian migrants – 131 men and 20 women – return home from Libya. Two days later (23 March), a charter flight assisted another 155 stranded Nigerians – 73 women and 82 men – to go return to Nigeria.

The two charters were coordinated with Libyan, Nigerian and Ivorian authorities and departed from Tripoli’s Mitiga Airport. IOM provided pre-departure interviews, medical check-ups and material assistance, including clothes and shoes.

Among the Ivorian passengers was 17-year-old Emmanuel,* who crossed four countries with his sisters and two brothers to reach Libya. Once there, his brothers managed to reach Europe, but left him because they were unable to afford his travel expenses.

Emmanuel ultimately decided to enter a detention centre – where he felt safer than remaining on the street – and where he could eat and sleep until he received IOM's voluntary return assistance to return to Cote d’Ivoire.

Adama* suffered from difficult circumstances in Cote d’Ivoire and decided to leave his family and school to go to Libya. On the way, he was kidnapped, beaten and tortured as his kidnappers asked for a ransom from his family. After his release, he went to Tripoli and planned to cross the sea to Europe but things went wrong and he decided to return home with IOM assistance.

Among the 23 passengers on the Ivorian flight that received reintegration assistance, four unaccompanied male minors received family tracing assistance.

The 16 most vulnerable cases on the Nigerian flight were also eligible for reintegration support, which will give them the opportunity to start a small business or to continue their education.

One unaccompanied child and two passengers received medical assistance before being deemed fit to travel. Sixteen migrants from the Nigerian group were considered eligible for IOM’s reintegration assistance upon arrival in Nigeria.

The return assistance was funded by the European Union, the Governments of the Netherlands and of the United Kingdom. It was part of IOM’s return assistance programme.

So far in 2017, IOM Libya has helped 1,566 stranded migrants return to their countries of origin. Of these, 337 were eligible for reintegration assistance.

*All migrant names have been altered for security reasons.

For further information, please contact Leonard Doyle, Tel: +41 79 2857123, Email:  ldoyle@iom.int or Othman Belbeisi, Tel: +216 29 600389, Email: obelbeisi@iom.int