(4 Nov 2021) LEAD IN:
Over 90 Nigerian migrants who were stranded in Libya flew to the Niger capital of Niamey on Wednesday in a U.N.-organized evacuation flight.
STORY-LINE:
More than 90 migrants stranded in Libya boarded an evacuation flight on Wednesday traveling from Misrata to Niamey, the capital of Niger.
Sixty children and 25 women were among the Nigerian migrants evacuated on Wednesday by the U.N.'s International Organization for Migration.
The IOM said last month it had resumed humanitarian evacuation flights for migrants stranded in Libya after authorities suspended them for several months.
The move came after a massive crackdown on migrants by Libyan security forces.
Evacuation flights for migrants have operated sporadically amid Libya's conflict and been periodically suspended because of fighting.
The latest suspension came from the country's ministry of interior on Aug. 8, according to the IOM.
Libya was plunged into turmoil by the NATO-backed 2011 uprising that toppled and killed longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi.
The North African nation has since emerged as a popular, if extremely dangerous, route to Europe for those fleeing poverty and civil war in Africa and the Middle East.
Many set out for Italy, packed by traffickers into unseaworthy boats.
Earlier last month, Libyan authorities started a massive crackdown against migrants in the western coastal town of Gargaresh, detaining more than 5,000 people over the course of a few days.
In response, many turned to a community center operated by the UN's refugee agency's office in nearby Tripoli, camping outside and asking to be evacuated.
Detained migrants in Libya have been held in overcrowded detention centers where torture, sexual assault and other abuses are rife.
U.N.-commissioned investigators said on Oct. 4 that abuse and ill treatment of migrants in Libya could amount to crimes against humanity.
The migration agency has operated evacuation flights for those wanting to return home since 2015 and since then returned some 53,000 migrants.
The program receives funding from the European Union and the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Migration Fund, according to the IOM statement.
Find out more about AP Archive: www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter: / ap_archive
Facebook: / aparchives ​​
Instagram: / apnews
You can license this story through AP Archive: www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...