Children among 127 Ghanaian returnees from Libya - International Organisation for Migration

A total of 127 Ghanaians touched down at the Kotoka International Airport on Wednesday from Libya, where they had been put under detention for various offences.

Among the returnees were one woman and two children, the Chief of Mission at the Ghana Office of the International Organisation for Migration disclosed on 3FM.

Sylvia Lopez was speaking in an interview on morning show Sunrise on Thursday.

Ms Lopez said more are expected to return as there are about 700,000 migrants in Libya.

‘Suffered physically’

She told host Winston Amoah that some of the migrants had developed diseases as a result of the conditions they found themselves in at detention camps – official and unofficial ones.

“A lot of them have suffered physically,” the IOM official said, adding that they had “very little in terms of sanitation, very little in terms of food”. Libya’s slave trade was highlighted by a documentary on CNN.

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This stirred anger among many especially as the act is being perpetrated by citizens of another African nation.

The issue received worldwide condemnation from the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres calling for investigation.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo laid the blame on the AU as he says it cannot happen when Libya is a member state.

Ms Lopez said IOM is collaborating with the various consulate offices in Libya to get more victims returned to their countries.

She said in July some Ghanaians were successfully brought home and her office will continue efforts to have as many ‘slaves’ returned home.