Tripoli, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Illegal Moroccan migrants detained in Libyan shelters started a hunger strike to protest for not being deported back to Morocco, Libyan authorities said on Friday.
"Illegal immigrants of Moroccan nationality have entered an open food and drink strike since Thursday," Tripoli's anti-illegal immigration department said in a statement.
"The strike is a protest against being detained in the shelters without the Moroccan authorities issuing temporary travel documents to facilitate their voluntary return to Morocco," the statement said.
The department announced earlier that measures were being taken to deport the migrants to their country under the voluntary repatriation program of the International Organization for Migration.
The department said in a previous statement that the migrants were waiting for the Moroccan authorities to send them travel documents.
