Gambia migrants return after Libya prison ordeal

Gambian migrants deported from Libya arrive at the airport in Banjul, Gambia on Tuesday. (REUTERS)

BANJUL: Gambian migrants returned home on Tuesday, after journeying across the Sahara in harsh conditions only to get stuck in Libya, most in jails far short of their intended destination in Europe.
The 169 migrants were mostly young men in their 20s, the main demographic of African economic migrants seeking a better life abroad, but also some women and children.
Looking visibly tired, they stepped off a jet at the airport in Banjul, the palm-fringed seaside capital of the tiny West African nation, then filled out forms they had been given for emergency passports.
Most of the dozen or so Gambian migrants interviewed by Reuters had been gone for more than a year. The International Organization of Migration (IOM) and Gambian government helped release them from detention centers in Tripoli and elsewhere.
European governments are struggling to find a response to the flow of migrants over the Mediterranean from Libya, and the appalling conditions in detention camps run by traffickers or the Libyan government.