Libyan Officials Study Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration

GENEVA, Switzerland, May 3, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- IOM has conducted two training sessions on Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration (AVRR) for 31 staff from Libya's Department for Combating Irregular Migration (DCIM) - an agency established in 2012 under the Ministry of Interior.

The training workshops, part of IOM's European Union-funded "Regional Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration Programme for Stranded Migrants in Egypt and Libya (RAVEL)” project, focused on the basics of AVRR for DCIM staff working with migrants at the Tweisha Centre – a transit facility for irregular migrants apprehended in Libya - and at Tripoli International Airport.

The officers were trained on how to distinguish between migrants who request voluntary return assistance to their countries of origin and those who are subject to administrative removal by the Libyan authorities, as well as the roles of IOM and DCIM in these processes. IOM is planning to conduct similar trainings for DCIM staff working in other centres throughout Libya.