The office of Libya's attorney general has ordered "the imprisonment of the commercial director of Ghadames Airlines for committing activity harmful to the country's interests."

According to a statement published by the office, the private airline is accused of flying "hundreds of people wishing to enter the territory of the United States through the territory of the Republic of Nicaragua, in violation of applicable immigration rules."

The statement added that the air carrier failed to take "into account the obligations of the air carrier," ignoring binding national migration legislation as well as international treaties ratified by Libya.

The illegal movement of "hundreds of people from East Asian countries" was further described as a violation of "the protocol to combat the smuggling of migrants by land, sea and air. "

Ghadames Airline was founded in 2021 and is headquartered in the official Libyan capital Tripoli, according to the company's website.

Also read: Libya: Lack of law and order endangers and attracts migrants

Libya: the main departure point of migrants

The allegations against Ghadames Airlines add a new dimension to the migration narrative in the European context.

Ghadames Airlines is banned from entering European Union airspace for security concerns — like the majority of Libya-based airlines.

The chief reasons for these security issues lie in the fact that since the ouster of former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, political instability in the country has led to a dramatic rise in violence and a state of civil war, with two rival administrations engaging in deadly attacks and battles to claim supremacy over the country.

The ensuing power vacuum meanwhile has turned Libya into the point of departure for migrants and refugees from Africa, the Middle East and Asia, which is a major concern for the European Union.

Also read: Tens of thousands of migrant testimonies reveal dangers of land routes in Africa

Smugglers exploring new routes

According to IOM numbers, there are more than 700,000 migrants in the country hoping to catch the right opportunity to journey to Europe, although Libyan authorities claim that there could be as many as 2.5 million foreign people in the country, with the vast majority of them alleged to have entered the country by irregular means. Those numbers, however, are contested.

Meanwhile the EU and its partners in North Africa, including Libya, are putting more efforts into stopping refugees and migrants from crossing the Mediterranean Sea to lodge asylum claims in Europe, leading to more foreigners getting stuck in the country, often in dangerous conditions.

Last week, Interior Minister Imad Trabelsi said that these events had led to an alleged overpopulation of migrants in the country, turning Libya into a country of settlement rather than transit.

Against this backdrop, people smugglers appear to be seeking new pathways to move migrants who are willing to pay abroad, exploring other destinations in the Global North, such as the United States, by traveling to Latin American countries first with the intention of continuing their irregular journeys by land.

Also read: 'Unimaginable horrors' on migration routes to Europe, UN report

With AFP, Reuters