Unlike the escalating migrant crisis in western Libya, the country’s eastern Cyrenaica region has seen negligible outflows of irregular migrants as the Libyan National Army intensifies its crackdown on human trafficking and smuggling networks.
Statistics from Italy’s interior ministry reveal over 20,000 irregular migrants have arrived on Italian shores since January, a 58.44% decline compared to the same period last year when 48,778 migrants made the perilous Mediterranean crossing.
While overall arrivals have dropped, migrant departures from Libya’s western coast – particularly the Tripoli area – have surged in recent weeks due to favorable weather conditions. Over 1,147 migrants reached Italy between May 22-29, including daily peaks of 259 arrivals last Monday and 332 on Tuesday.
Marking a shift from 2023 trends, arrivals from Libya have outpaced those from Tunisia so far this year. As of May 28, some 21,561 migrants had traveled from Libya compared to 25,344 from Tunisia during the same period in 2023.
However, Tunisian migrant outflows have plunged 65% year-on-year to 8,761, while departures from Libya spiked 50.37% to 10,700 since January 1.
The Italian Nova news agency reported that migrant boats leaving Libyan shores almost exclusively originated from Tripoli’s coastline. A mere 203 migrants arrived from the eastern city of Benghazi in Cyrenaica, a stark contrast to early 2023 when the region unexpectedly witnessed large-scale migrant outflows compared to the west.
Disaggregated by nationality, Bangladeshis comprised the largest contingent at 4,123 arrivals, followed by Tunisians (2,772), Syrians (2,764), Guineans (1,761), and Egyptians (1,249). Some 5,771 migrants remained unspecified.
The grim human toll was underscored by International Organization for Migration data indicating 267 deaths and 417 missing migrants from Libya and Tunisia between January 1 and May 24, 2024, bringing this year’s fatality count to 664.
The contrasting trends between Cyrenaica and western Libya highlight the Libyan National Army’s intensified border control measures and counter-trafficking operations, which have successfully stemmed migrant outflows from the region. However, the chaos in Tripoli continues enabling smuggling networks, exacerbating the humanitarian crisis in the Mediterranean.