South Africa deports 95 Libyan detainees | News

The Ministry of Interior announced in South Africa The deportation of 95 Libyan nationals who were arrested on July 26 at a secret military training camp in Mpumalanga province, east of Johannesburg.

The ministry said in a statement today that the detainees left South Africa from Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport on Sunday morning on a flight provided by the Libyan government.

According to South African police, the Libyans entered the country last April on visas issued as part of security training, and the South African authorities cancelled their visas issued in Tunisia “illegally” and “based on misleading information.”

The men were initially charged with immigration violations. South African prosecutors dropped the charges last Thursday due to lack of evidence.

South African Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber praised “the ministry officials and other security personnel who worked tirelessly to enable the swift deportation,” adding, “We will continue to use all resources at our disposal to ensure that the country's immigration laws are respected.”

When they were arrested at the end of last month, the Government of National Unity in Libya denied any connection to the detainees, and said in a statement that it had nothing to do with the procedures for sending them or assigning them any mission, whether training or otherwise.

The government stated that it had assigned “the military prosecutor and its embassy in South Africa to communicate with the relevant authorities to follow up on the circumstances of this case,” and expressed its readiness “to participate in the investigations to uncover the circumstances of what happened and the parties behind it.”