A group of 97 Somali immigrants has left Libya for home under the voluntary repatriation programme organized by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), The Somali Foreign Ministry confirmed on Wednesday.

Somali Foreign Minister Abdi Saeed Musa was at the Mogadishu airport to receive the returned migrants, who included five women.

"The step comes within the framework of the government's efforts to bring back our citizens who are detained in prisons around the world," Musa said.

According to Musa, the group was the first batch of Somali migrants to be repatriated through the voluntary programme since the outbreak of the coronavirus.

He emphasized that his government would continue efforts to bring back all its people wanting to return home in cooperation with the IOM, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and the European Union.

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