The Security Department of the western Libyan city of Zuwara, some 120 km west of the capital Tripoli, on Friday announced the arrest of 32 illegal immigrants.
A house in Zuwara has been stormed and six illegal Sudanese immigrants were arrested, said the department said in a statement, adding that 26 others of different African nationalities were seized in another location.
The immigrants have been taken to the department to take necessary legal procedures, the statement added.
Libya is a preferred point of departure for immigrants wanting to cross the Mediterranean toward European shores because of the state of insecurity and chaos that followed the 2011 uprising.
Immigrants’ shelters in Libya are crowded with thousands of migrants who have been arrested by the Libyan authorities.
This comes after nearly 150 migrants, including 65 minors and 13 babies under one, were airlifted from Libya to Rome on Thursday by the U.N. refugee agency.
“Due to the violent clashes and deteriorating security conditions in Tripoli, 149 refugees and vulnerable asylum seekers were evacuated and transferred to Rome,” the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said.
Those airlifted to safety – including a two-month-old infant – came from Eritrea, Somalia, Sudan, and Ethiopia, it said.
