US’ plan to deport Filipinos to Libya ‘cruel, inhumane’
MANILA – Senate President Francis Escudero on Thursday condemned a reported plan by US immigration authorities to deport undocumented Asian nationals, including Filipinos, to Libya, calling the move cruel and a violation of basic human rights.
“Filipinos are not camels to be dumped on some Libyan desert. They are human beings who deserve to be accorded all the rights by a state who claim to cherish and uphold them,” Escudero said in a news release
The Senate leader expressed alarm over the policy’s implications, citing Libya’s volatile security environment and long-documented abuses against detainees.
Human rights groups and several foreign governments have likewise condemned the plan, which they warn could place migrants in grave danger.
A US federal judge has halted the deportation of Asian nationals to Libya, noting that such a transfer could violate an earlier court order allowing the migrants to contest their removal to a third country.
MANILA – Senate President Francis Escudero on Thursday condemned a reported plan by US immigration authorities to deport undocumented Asian nationals, including Filipinos, to Libya, calling the move cruel and a violation of basic human rights.
“Filipinos are not camels to be dumped on some Libyan desert. They are human beings who deserve to be accorded all the rights by a state who claim to cherish and uphold them,” Escudero said in a news release
The Senate leader expressed alarm over the policy’s implications, citing Libya’s volatile security environment and long-documented abuses against detainees.
Human rights groups and several foreign governments have likewise condemned the plan, which they warn could place migrants in grave danger.
A US federal judge has halted the deportation of Asian nationals to Libya, noting that such a transfer could violate an earlier court order allowing the migrants to contest their removal to a third country.
