LOS ANGELES - Authorities in Libya, a country still divided after years of civil war, have de-nied reports that they will receive undocumented migrants deported by the United States.
The Reuters news agency reported on Wednesday that deportation flights from the US to the North African country could begin this week, despite previous government reports raising alarm over unsafe conditions there.
The National Unity government, which controls western Libya, said in a statement that it rejected the use of its territory as a destination for deporting migrants without its knowledge or consent.
“The Government of National Unity categorically denies any agreement or coordination with US authorities regarding the deportation of migrants to Libya,” it said in a statement.
Haftar’s Libyan National Army, which controls eastern Libya, also rejected the report, saying that migrants “will not be received through airports and ports secured by the Armed Forces, and that this is completely false and we cannot accept it at all.”
The report by Reuters, which cites three anonymous US officials, says that the US military could fly migrants to Libya for detention as soon as Wednesday, but it notes that those plans are subject to change. The number and nationality of the migrants who could be deported are unknown.
The administration of US President Donald Trump has sought out third-party countries where it can deport and detain undocumented immigrants, part of a larger push to enact a hard-right vision of immigration enforcement.
But later on Wednesday, Trump dodged questions about the Reuters report, saying he knew nothing about deportations to Libya.
“I don’t know. You’ll have to ask Homeland Security,” Trump told journalists in the Oval Office.
Still, his administration has previously forged agreements with other countries, including Panama and El Salvador, to receive deportations from the US.
On April 30, for example, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced at a cabinet meeting at the White House that the US was requesting that other countries take its undocumented immigrants.
“We are working with other countries to say: We want to send you some of the most despicable human beings. Will you do this as a favour to us?” Rubio said. “And the further away from America, the better.” (Al Jazeera/AP)
