The eastern region of Libya, under the control of the Libyan National Army (LNA) led by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, has witnessed a sharp decline in the number of illegal migrants departing for Europe, according to the Italian news agency Nova.
While the start of 2023 surprisingly saw more migrants leaving from eastern Libya than the western coast, only 50 migrants have departed from the Cyrenaica region this year. This is in stark contrast to the thousands who have set off from areas under the Tripol-based government led by Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh.
The dramatic drop is attributed to the LNA’s intensified efforts to combat human smuggling networks and illegal migration in territories under its control, including Cyrenaica, Fezzan, and other areas.
LNA forces, under Haftar’s leadership, have succeeded in dismantling smuggling infrastructure, imposing tight security controls on borders and coastlines in these regions, effectively drying up the flow of irregular migrants.
Data from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) indicates Libyan authorities intercepted and returned 1,915 illegal migrants between January 9 and March 15 alone.
In contrast, western Libya is experiencing a surge in irregular migration activity, with Nova reporting departures from Libyan shores were “almost exclusively” from the Tripoli area.
Simultaneously, updated figures from the Italian Interior Ministry revealed a 67.1% year-on-year decline in migrant arrivals to Italy since the start of 2024, with only around 6,560 arrivals compared to 19,937 during the same period last year.
Nova highlighted that nearly two-thirds of total arrivals to Italy originated from Libya, while only 86.1% came from Tunisia, marking an 86% drop from the previous year.
The central Mediterranean route remains one of the world’s deadliest, with the IOM recording 190 migrant fatalities and 9 missing at sea between January 1 and March 15. Among the victims were 15 migrants who died of starvation and dehydration days after departing Libya.
As the LNA’s clampdown dries up migrant flows from the east, the struggle against human smugglers and traffickers fueling the hazardous journeys across the Mediterranean continues.