Tuesday September 23, 2025
Mogadishu (HOL) — Somali government on Tuesday repatriated
173 citizens who had been held in prisons across Libya, where they endured
harsh conditions and widespread human rights abuses.
A plane carrying 151 returnees landed at Mogadishu’s Aden
Adde International Airport, while another 22 were disembarked in Hargeisa,
officials said.
Most of those repatriated were young Somalis who had faced
years of hardship in overcrowded Libyan detention centers notorious for
torture, neglect and poor living conditions.
Government leaders, including the second deputy prime
minister, officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the deputy foreign
minister and representatives of the presidential envoy for migration and
children’s rights, were at the airport to welcome the group. Officials from the
National Commission for Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons (NCRI), the
European Union and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) also
attended.
The operation was the result of joint efforts between
Mogadishu and international partners, particularly IOM, which coordinated the
logistics of the return.
Ambassador Mariam Yassin Hagi Yussuf, the president’s
special envoy for migration, returns and children’s rights, said the government
remains committed to helping Somalis trapped in prisons and detention centers
abroad.
“The Somali Government is committed to investing time in the
repatriation of Somalis suffering in prisons,” Yassin said.
Some of the returnees, visibly relieved as they stepped off
the plane, spoke of their ordeals in Libya — describing fear, abuse, lack of
medical care and torture — before expressing joy at finally returning home.
Many thanked Somali authorities for securing their release and giving them a
chance to rebuild their lives.
For Somalia, the repatriation underscores both the risks
young migrants face when attempting to travel irregularly through North Africa
toward Europe and the government’s efforts to bring its citizens back from
cycles of abuse and displacement.