A circulating video of “a security raid in Libya on a site for migrants from Egypt”.. What is its story?

Social media accounts circulated a video clip as showing recent scenes of a raid on a shelter in Libya containing irregular immigrants from Egypt. The video received more than 500,000 views on the X website alone, accompanied by a misleading description that said: “Egyptians are crying after desert patrol men in Libya raided a place where Egyptians who entered Libya illegally were hiding,” while another post threatened those involved in this to “pay the price.”

The clip shows what appears to be a security raid during which people were found speaking in the Egyptian dialect, describing the conditions of their detention inside a closed room. Using reverse search, we found the video posted on the “Presidency of the Anti-Illegal Migration Agency in Libya” page on Facebook, on September 20, 2024.

At the time, the agency reported that the General Directorate of Desert Patrol had conducted a “successful raid on a den used for illegal human smuggling in the border city of Amsaad... which resulted in the release of 15 people of Egyptian nationality who were illegally detained.”

The agency indicated that these people "entered Libyan territory only 5 days ago and were detained in harsh conditions, as they were prevented from obtaining food and water throughout their detention period." During the year 2026, the Libyan authorities announced the deportation of hundreds of Egyptians after they entered the country irregularly, amid ongoing campaigns that the authorities say target networks of “human and weapons smuggling across the border.”