Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Gaza Media Office: Bloody spectacle shows that these zones have become collective death traps rather than aid distribution zones.
Gaza Media Office: Dozens of citizens are still surrounded under constant fire in the vicinity of the "aid station."
Gaza Media Office: As soon as citizens arrived, occupation and Americans opened direct fire on them.
Gaza Media Office: Occupation, in complicity with the US company, called on citizens to move toward Wadi Gaza Bridge, claiming that aid would be distributed.
Gaza Government Media Office: Occupation set a bloody trap at bridge of Wadi Gaza, luring thousands of starved civilians, and opened fire on them.
Al Mayadeen's correspondent in South Lebanon: Israeli drone drops sonic grenade in town of Ramiyah.
Al Mayadeen's correspondent in South Lebanon: Israeli drone strike targets vehicle in town of Beit Lif.
The Government Media Office in Gaza: The occupation’s latest crime is further evidence of its ongoing implementation of genocide through starvation.
Gaza Government Media Office: This is a methodical use of aid as a tool of war to blackmail hungry civilians.
Gaza Government media office: Massacre committed by occupation today is a blatant war crime under international law.

Trump plans to send migrants to Libya on a military flight

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Agencies
  • 7 May 2025 12:35
  • 1 Shares
5 Min Read

The Trump administration is preparing to deport migrants to Libya via military aircraft, raising alarm over human rights and legal violations.

Listen
  • x
  • An aerial view shows cars driving past Martyrs' Square in Tripoli on September 2, 2023. (AFP)
    An aerial view shows cars driving past Martyrs' Square in Tripoli on September 2, 2023. (AFP)

The Trump administration is preparing to deport a group of migrants to Libya aboard a US military aircraft, a move that marks a dangerous escalation in its global deportation strategy and has drawn condemnation from legal experts and human rights groups.

According to US officials cited by Reuters, the flight could depart as early as Wednesday. The nationalities of the deportees remain undisclosed, while the operation is being closely held within federal agencies and may still be delayed by legal, diplomatic, or logistical challenges.

While Libya is currently considered an unstable country, the State Department explicitly warns against travel to the North African nation due to “crime, terrorism, unexploded land mines, civil unrest, kidnapping, and armed conflict.” Nonetheless, the Trump administration is pushing forward with deportation plans, part of its broader effort to deter undocumented migration by signaling that deportees can and will be sent to dangerous countries.

The United States has formal relations only with the UN-recognized government in Tripoli. However, eastern Libya is controlled by Khalifa Haftar, a Trump-era ally. His son, Saddam Haftar, was in Washington last week and met with several administration officials, signaling potential backchannel engagement between the two sides.

Human rights groups condemn use of Libya as a destination

It is worth noting that Amnesty International has described the facilities as “a hellscape,” citing widespread torture, sexual abuse, forced labor, and in some cases, slavery. The Global Detention Project and Human Rights Watch have also documented systemic mistreatment, particularly of sub-Saharan African migrants, many of whom are intercepted by Libyan coast guards and dumped into prisons with no judicial oversight.

In its most recent annual report, the State Department itself reported that migrants, including children, are denied access to courts and held in “harsh and life-threatening” conditions.

“I have been in those migrant prisons and it’s no place for migrants,” said Frederic Wehrey, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “It’s just a horrific place to dump any vulnerable person.”

Related News

Rubio orders extra visa vetting for Harvard-linked applicants

US goes after foreign authorities 'complicit' in Americans' censorship

Instability in Libya deepened last February when the country's Cabinet Affairs Minister, Adel Juma, was wounded in an assassination attempt in Tripoli. According to a statement from the Tripoli-based Government of National Unity (GNU).

Deportations expand under Trump’s wartime authority

This latest operation follows a string of controversial Trump-era deportations using military logistics. Earlier this year, the administration deported a group of Venezuelans to El Salvador, where they were incarcerated in a maximum-security prison.

Trump and his aides labeled the deportees as violent gang members and used a rarely invoked wartime statute to authorize their removal, an action now being challenged in court.

In a separate case, the Defense Department transported four Venezuelan migrants from Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, to El Salvador without Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials on board, according to court records. DHS later stated it had not directed the flight, raising further questions about interagency coordination and legal oversight.

Global reach: Panama, Costa Rica, and now Libya

Alongside the Libya operation, the Trump administration has expanded its deportation footprint globally. Earlier this year, hundreds of migrants from the Eastern Hemisphere, including Iranians and Chinese nationals, were deported to Panama and Costa Rica. Some were detained in isolated hotels or jungle camps with minimal notice or due process. In one case, a lawsuit argued that the sudden transfer and detention of children in Costa Rica posed a risk of “irreparable harm.”

Conversely, earlier this year, more than 600 Nigerien nationals were forcibly deported from Libya in one of the largest known expulsions from the country. At the time, critics accused EU nations, particularly Italy, of outsourcing migration control to North African countries like Libya and Tunisia.

Pentagon’s growing role in deportation logistics

The use of US military planes for migrant deportations, once rare, is now central to the administration’s logistics. The Department of Defense has been involved in deportation flights to countries including India, Ecuador, and Guatemala, often without DHS personnel on board, raising alarm among legal experts.

The potential Libya flight is the clearest example yet of how far the administration is willing to go to carry out removals, even if it means sending vulnerable individuals into war zones.

Neither the White House, State Department, nor the Pentagon responded to requests for comment. However, human rights organizations are already preparing to challenge the Libya flight in court if it proceeds.

As legal battles unfold and diplomatic tensions rise, the Trump administration appears committed to expanding its deportation network, even into countries with active armed conflict and well-documented human rights abuses.

  • United States
  • Pentagon
  • Donald Trump
  • Libya
  • Marco Rubio

Most Read

President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrive to a news conference in the East Room of the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025, in Washington (AP)

Rift widens: Trump, Netanyahu clash in heated phone call over Iran

  • Politics
  • 26 May 2025
US judges quietly consider private security amid Trump tensions

US judges quietly consider private security amid Trump pressures

  • US & Canada
  • 25 May 2025
An Israeli army vehicle moves in the Gaza Strip as seen from southern occupied Palestine, Thursday, May 29, 2025 (AP)

Hamas rejects Witkoff ceasefire plan, says alters terms

  • Politics
  • 29 May 2025
Spokesperson for the Yemeni Armed Forces, Brigadier General Yahya Saree, announces a new operation against Ben Gurion Airport on May 29, 2025 (Yemeni Military Media)

Yemen announces successful hypersonic missile strike on Ben Gurion

  • Politics
  • 30 May 2025

Coverage

All
War on Gaza

Read Next

All
MIT bans class president who gave pro-Palestine speech
US & Canada

MIT bans class president over pro-Palestine speech

Arab ministers condemn Israel 'ban' on planned West Bank visit
Politics

Arab ministers condemn Israeli ban on planned West Bank visit

Major General Hu Gangfeng, Vice President, National Defense University, People's Liberation Army, China, leaves after a panel discussion during the 22nd Shangri-La Dialogue summit in Singapore, Saturday, May 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
Politics

China blasts Hegseth, calls US top 'troublemaker' in Asia-Pacific

US activists demand shutdown of Musk's 'dirty' supercomputer: Reports
Technology

US activists demand shutdown of Musk's 'dirty' supercomputer: NBC News

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS