By Sami Zaptia.
17 February 2021:
Libyan irregular (illegal) migrants arriving in Italy by sea totalled 582 over the last two years, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) confirmed to Libya Herald.
In 2019, the IOM recorded 196 Libyans while last year it recorded 386 Libyans. These figures are net numbers and exclude those who failed to land on Italian soil by either perishing in the sea or those picked up the Libya’s Coast Guard.
In 2019 there were a total of 4,122 arrivals by sea to Italy from Libya (all nationalities) in the period 1 January – 31 December 2019. Of the 196 Libyans (which made up 4.75 percent of the total of arrivals from Libya),
- 89 Men
- 36 Women
- 71 Minors (among them 17 Unaccompanied Minors)
While in 2020 there were a total of 13,012 arrivals by sea to Italy from Libya (all nationalities) from 1 January – 31 December 2020. Of this total, there were 386 Libyans (2.97 percent of the total of arrivals from Libya):
- 250 Men
- 40 Women
- 96 Minors (among them 20 Unaccompanied Minors)
Commenting on the figures, the IOM’ Media Department said ‘‘Libya has always been a transit and destination country for migrants. We have recorded in the past some arrivals of Libyan Nationals in Italy. While we noticed an increase in the number of Libyan nationals attempting to cross the Central Mediterranean and arriving in Italy, the numbers remain low and we would not necessarily be talking about a shift or a new trend.
There have also been Libyans intercepted or rescued by the coast guard and returned to the country. The total number of Libyan National intercepted or rescued by the coast guard in 2020 is 179 people.
