The Moroccan authorities said on Wednesday that they are working on repatriating a large number of Moroccan migrants who claim to be stuck in Libya after trying to enter Europe clandestinely, reports the Associated Press.
In a video that went viral on the internet, a man who declared he is Moroccan said that around 232 of his fellow countrymen are kept in a migration center in Tripoli. The man complained saying that other migrants of different nationalities were repatriated by their government stating: «We are the only ones still here».
Speaking in Moroccan dialect he added «no Moroccan official came, nor called … to inquire about our situation».
The migrant said they were held for more than two months and that they are planning to go on a hunger strike demanding their repatriation.
On the other hand, an official from the Moroccan Foreign Ministry told the Associated Press that his department is doing everything to bring those nationals back home, holding meetings with their families.
«The operation takes time and involves several people, but we are working on it», said the same official.
According to the American news agency, a UN monitor who visited Libya earlier this month reported that thousands of hungry men, women and children are locked inside packed hangars. Some of them faced torture, rape, forced labor, starvation and physical violence in Libyan detention centers.