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| Africa North |
| Libya home to 1.5 million illegal migrants |
| 2009-04-18 |
| [Maghrebia] Libya's new construction and service industry expansion has led to an illegal immigrant population of up to 1.5 million, Reuters reported on Thursday (April 16th), citing a report from the International Organization for Migration (IOM). File under "what goes around comes around." An estimated 100,000 migrants cross to Italy each year from Libya, the report noted. Joint sea patrols by Italy and Libya will begin next month in an effort to stem the migrant tide. In March, hundreds of sub-Saharan migrants drowned off the Libyan coast when their boats capsized in stormy weather. |
| Posted by:Fred |