Security forces in eastern Libya have expelled thousands of Egyptians who were in Libya illegally in recent days, deporting them to Egypt on foot across the land border, an Egyptian security source and an eastern Libyan security source told Reuters.
According to the Libyan security source, 4000 immigrants had been found during raids on people traffickers following a shootout between security forces and smugglers. The source added that the immigrants were all deported.
The Egyptian security source indicated that only about 2,200 of the 4000 immigrants who were found by Libyan security forces were there illegally and they were the only ones deported.
“Most of them were Egyptians, but some held other African nationalities. When they were deported, they were taken to a location close to the border and then walked about 2 km (1.25 miles) into Egypt,” the Egyptian security source said.
The Libyan source told Reuters that the security forces had destroyed a harbour used by people smugglers.