The Trump administration may soon start deporting migrants to Libya, expanding its mass deportation campaign to the troubled North African country, two U.S. officials told CBS News Tuesday.
The deportations, expected to be operated by the U.S. military, could start as early as this week, the officials said, requesting anonymity to discuss internal government plans.
Libya is one of several far-flung nations the U.S. government has been asking to accept deportations of migrants from third countries, CBS News reported earlier this week.
The possibility of U.S. deportations to Libya, reported earlier Tuesday by Reuters, is a stunning proposition given the deep political and social turmoil the North African country finds itself in, as well as its human rights record.
Since a civil war erupted in 2011, Libya has been plagued by armed conflict and political tumult. The country, itself a corridor for desperate migrants hoping to reach Europe by crossing the Mediterranean Sea, is divided into two factions. The western part of the country is overseen by a United Nations-backed government in Tripoli, while the east is controlled by a strongman.
The State Department has a Level 4 travel advisory for Libya, warning Americans not to travel there because of “crime, terrorism, unexploded landmines, civil unrest, kidnapping, and armed conflict.”
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Libya has also gained infamy over its treatment of migrants seeking to reach Europe, with both advocates and U.S. officials finding that detainees in the North African country face brutal conditions, due process violations and even torture in immigration detention centers.
It’s unclear who exactly would be deported to Libya under the plans being considered by the Trump administration and whether they would be detained by authorities there upon arrival.
As part of its aggressive efforts to deter migrants from entering or staying in the U.S. illegally, the Trump administration has mounted an intense diplomatic campaign to forge deportations agreements that allow the U.S. to send migrants to countries that are not their own.
It has already persuaded several Latin America countries to accept third country nationals, sending Asian and African migrants to Costa Rica and Panama, as well as a group of Venezuelan men accused of gang membership to El Salvador, which transferred them to a notorious mega prison.
But the Trump administration has also sought to broker deportation agreements with countries in other continents, including Africa and Europe.
The other countries U.S. officials have approached for potential third country deportation arrangements include Angola, Benin, Eswatini, Moldova and Rwanda, according to internal U.S. government documents and officials.
It’s unclear whether any of those countries will finalize agreements with the U.S. After CBS News identified Angola as one of the countries the U.S. had approached, its embassy in Washington said the West African country would not accept deportees from third countries.
