More than 800 African migrants who wanted to reach Europe through Libya and a group of smugglers were arrested in Sudan, near the Libyan border, between June and August, Sudanese security services officials said Tuesday.
A total of 816 migrants were arrested while trying to enter Libya, a country located 300 km off European coasts and in which many migrants move to make the crossing through the Mediterranean, Sudanese authorities said.
Of those arrested, 347 were Eritreans, 130 Ethiopians and 90 Sudanese.
A group of smugglers was also arrested after clashes with security forces that killed two soldiers and an officer near the Libyan border, the sources added.
“We are working with someone who tells us to recover these people and bringing them to Libya. We do not know what happens to them then in Libya,” Fdi Jumaa Mohammed, a Chadian passer told reporters.
He explained that he receives about 986 euros for each migrant that entered Libya.
Sudan is a key transit country especially for Eritreans fleeing their country to Europe.
The migrants will be deported to their home countries, Sudan’s police general Awad Dahia said.
Thousands of sub-Saharan migrants are trying to reach Libya daily where they embark on a dangerous crossing to Europe in boats often dilapidated and overcrowded.
