Archive · 15 Sep 2026
IOM Repatriates 171 Somali Migrants From Libya Safely
The International Organisation for Migration helped 171 Somali migrants return home from Libya.
Three of the people who returned were children.
They had traveled through dangerous places and faced hardship, exploitation and abuse.
Forty-two people got off the plane in Hargeisa, and the others arrived in Mogadishu.
Families and government officials welcomed many of them.
The returnees received help such as housing, medical care and transportation.
They can also receive mental-health support and money to help them start again.
The European Union, Somalia and the IOM paid for and organized the program.
Many other Somali migrants are still in Libya and need food, shelter, medical care and protection.
A charter flight brought 171 Somali migrants, including three minors, home from Libya on Monday.
The returnees had endured hazardous journeys, exploitation and abuse by smugglers, according to the International Organisation for Migration.
Forty-two migrants disembarked in Hargeisa, while the rest arrived in Mogadishu and received immediate assistance.
The EU, Somali government and IOM supported the voluntary returns through the MPRR-SSA program.
Since August 2022, the partnership has helped about 2,000 Somali migrants return from Libya, although hundreds remain stranded there.
- Who
- 171 Somali migrants, including three minors, returned with assistance from the International Organisation for Migration, the Somali government and the European Union.
- What
- The migrants were voluntarily repatriated from Libya to Somalia on an IOM-organized charter flight.
- When
- They arrived on Monday; the EU-IOM partnership has facilitated returns since August 2022.
- Where
- The flight stopped in Hargeisa, northern Somalia, and then arrived in Mogadishu.
- Why
- The migrants had faced dangerous conditions, exploitation, abuse and a lack of basic services in Libya.
- Returnees
- 171 Somali migrants, including three minors
- Arrival points
- Hargeisa and Mogadishu, Somalia
- Hargeisa arrivals
- 42 returnees disembarked there
- Support program
- Migrant Protection, Return and Reintegration in Sub-Saharan Africa (MPRR-SSA)
- Long-term total
- About 2,000 Somali migrants have returned from Libya through the partnership since August 2022
- Post-arrival support
- Housing, medical and mental-health care, transport, and individualized financial assistance
- Continuing need
- Hundreds of Somali migrants remain stranded in Libya under dangerous conditions