GAO, Mali: Authorities in Mali have returned two people to France after French authorities apparently deported them to this West African country without proof of their nationality.
Government spokesman Djeneba Deme said Friday the passengers’ nationality was not immediately known and that they were flying only with a travel document issued by the EU.
The incident comes amid tensions between the EU and African countries over the repatriation of illegal migrants. An untold number of West Africans attempt the dangerous passage to Europe by desert and sea each year in hope of a better life.
A Mali government statement says the country will not accept any visitors presumed to be Malian without a passport or Mali-issued travel documents.
French officials declined to comment, saying they were unaware of the case.
Libya prison ordeal recounted
Dozens of Malian migrants kept locked up in Libyan jails after failing to make it onto boats bound for Europe have arrived home, with some reporting maltreatment by authorities in the unstable north African nation.
The group of 159 Malians including several children arrived in Bamako on a flight chartered by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), according to an AFP journalist at the scene.
Around 40 were detained in Libya’s notoriously grim jails for living in the country illegally, according to regional civil protection director Bakary Daou, and had requested deportation.
“Given the difficulties that they encountered in Libya, they accepted coming back to the country voluntarily,” Daou told AFP.
The government would work with the IOM to ensure they were safely returned to their loved ones, Daou added.
Racist attacks and maltreatment were the norm, the returnees said, confirming they were attempting to reach Europe through the well-trodden smuggling route taken by many west Africans through Niger and Libya.
AFP saw at least three unaccompanied minors and several clearly unwell people among the group.
“In all of Libya’s prisons, they hit people and treat them badly, especially black Africans,” said Ibrahim Bidane Sy, a migrant who spent three months in one jail.
“I was in prison without communicating with my family or friends... luckily the IOM helped me to get out,” he added.
Government spokesman Djeneba Deme said Friday the passengers’ nationality was not immediately known and that they were flying only with a travel document issued by the EU.
The incident comes amid tensions between the EU and African countries over the repatriation of illegal migrants. An untold number of West Africans attempt the dangerous passage to Europe by desert and sea each year in hope of a better life.
A Mali government statement says the country will not accept any visitors presumed to be Malian without a passport or Mali-issued travel documents.
French officials declined to comment, saying they were unaware of the case.
Libya prison ordeal recounted
Dozens of Malian migrants kept locked up in Libyan jails after failing to make it onto boats bound for Europe have arrived home, with some reporting maltreatment by authorities in the unstable north African nation.
The group of 159 Malians including several children arrived in Bamako on a flight chartered by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), according to an AFP journalist at the scene.
Around 40 were detained in Libya’s notoriously grim jails for living in the country illegally, according to regional civil protection director Bakary Daou, and had requested deportation.
“Given the difficulties that they encountered in Libya, they accepted coming back to the country voluntarily,” Daou told AFP.
The government would work with the IOM to ensure they were safely returned to their loved ones, Daou added.
Racist attacks and maltreatment were the norm, the returnees said, confirming they were attempting to reach Europe through the well-trodden smuggling route taken by many west Africans through Niger and Libya.
AFP saw at least three unaccompanied minors and several clearly unwell people among the group.
“In all of Libya’s prisons, they hit people and treat them badly, especially black Africans,” said Ibrahim Bidane Sy, a migrant who spent three months in one jail.
“I was in prison without communicating with my family or friends... luckily the IOM helped me to get out,” he added.
