Somalia repatriated 173 of its citizens from Libya on Tuesday, ending years of detention under dire conditions in a country long notorious for its abusive treatment of migrants.
A chartered flight brought 151 returnees to Mogadishu’s Aden Adde International Airport, while another 22 disembarked in Somaliland’s capital, Hargeisa, officials said. Most were young Somalis who had attempted the dangerous migration routes northward, only to find themselves trapped in Libya’s overcrowded detention centers — facilities rights groups have described as rife with torture, neglect, and extortion.
Somali leaders, including the second deputy prime minister, senior foreign ministry officials, and the president’s envoy for migration and children’s rights, greeted the arrivals. Representatives from the EU and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), which coordinated logistics, were also on hand.
Ambassador Mariam Yassin Hagi Yussuf, the envoy for migration, returns and children’s rights, pledged that the government would continue working to secure the release of Somalis trapped abroad. “The Somali Government is committed to investing time in the repatriation of Somalis suffering in prisons,” she said.
The returnees themselves spoke of years of fear and abuse in Libyan custody — of torture, untreated illness, and hunger. Many expressed relief at finally being free and gratitude to Somali authorities for helping them return home.
The operation highlights both the scale of Somalia’s migration crisis and the difficult choices facing young people in a country where unemployment, insecurity, and drought drive thousands to attempt irregular routes toward Europe each year. Libya, a key transit point, has become a dead end for many.
International partners have long urged Somalia and other African governments to expand reintegration programs, warning that without jobs, education, and stability, returnees risk falling into the same cycle of desperation. For Mogadishu, Tuesday’s repatriation was a political statement as much as a humanitarian gesture: proof that the state is capable of protecting its citizens abroad, even as instability and poverty continue to push them away.
