In some cases, an individual is deported to a country that does not accept him or her as a national: in one example, an undocumented migrant who was deported by the German immigration authorities to Liberia was detained at the airport for six months, then deported to Nigeria, from where the immigration authorities sent him back to Liberia. The deportee was finally sent back to Germany by the Liberian immigration authorities.176 In other cases, war and insecurity causes migrants to return home precipitately. On the fall of the Gaddafi regime, there was a mass flight across the Libyan borders from the civil conflict that followed, including not only Libyans but also migrants from Africa and further afield. There were also attacks on African migrants by Libyans, blamed for their alleged support for the Gaddafi regime.177 Some destroyed their own identity documents, fearing that rumours about migrants being given visas to fight for Gaddafi might expose them to danger. According to IOM figures as of March 2012, the crisis resulted in some 317,000 third-country nationals who had fled to Libya’s neighbouring countries (Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Niger and Tunisia) requiring evacuation to their home countries – mainly across Africa, and the largest numbers to Chad and Niger. IOM and its partners assisted more than 210,000 people to return by June 2011; and a further 38,000 stranded in the country by May 2012.178 In most cases, those who return – or are returned – to their “home” country, where that country is unambiguous, will be able to acquire recognition of nationality on their return, even if they have lost their documents. Spokespersons for some of the hundreds of thousands of African migrants who returned from Libya at the time of the 2011 crisis report major problems of reintegration in their home countries when they return with empty hands after making the difficult journey across the desert to seek their fortune.179 However, these problems are mainly financial, focused on lack of state support, lack of jobs and housing, and loss of dignity and respect, rather than lack of documentation: “If you are a hundred percent Nigerien, you won’t have difficulty getting a Nigerien identity card”.180 This outcome, however, depends on there being a clearly identified “home country”: the children of those who have migrated may face greater problems. Although birth registration may as a matter of law be compulsory for all, and even accessible on request, it is highly likely that undocumented migrant parents do not register the birth of their children with the authorities either of the country where they are resident or with the consular authorities of their countries of origin. Humanitarian agencies, including IOM, may assist individual migrants to register their children; but if registration is outside the required time limits this process may be exceedingly time consuming, involving weeks if not months of chasing officials and significant transport costs to find witnesses of the child’s birth and connection to his or her parents.181 Those without such assistance may not be prepared or able to undertake the costs and time investment to register a child’s birth. Without such documentation, a 176 UNHCR interview with Alfred Bronwell, Liberian Bar Association, 2014. Human Rights Watch, “Libya: Stranded Foreign Workers Need Urgent Evacuation: Sub-Saharan Africans Appear at Greatest Risk”, 3 March 2011; International Crisis Group, Holding Libya Together: Security Challenges after Qadhafi, Middle East/North Africa Report N°115 – 14 December 2011. 178 Asmita Naik, “Returnees from Libya: The bittersweet experience of coming home”, Policy Brief, IOM, May 2012. 179 Ibid. ; « Conséquences de la crise libyenne / Plus de 13 900 Maliens rentrés de Libye lancent un SOS aux autorités maliennes » Le Républicain (Bamako), 3 January 2012 180 Interview with spokesperson for CORNI, the Collectif des rapatriés nigériens de la Libye et de la Cote d’Ivoire, Niamey, May 2014. 181 Interviews with IOM officials and with representatives of organisations working with children at risk, including children of migrants, Niamey and Ziguinchor, May 2014. 177 54