Manila, May 8 -- Senate President Francis Escudero on Thursday condemned a reported plan by US immigration authorities to deport undocumented Asian nationals, including Filipinos, to Libya, calling the move cruel and a violation of basic human rights.

"Filipinos are not camels to be dumped on some Libyan desert. They are human beings who deserve to be accorded all the rights by a state who claim to cherish and uphold them," Escudero said in a news release

The Senate leader expressed alarm over the policy's implications, citing Libya's volatile security environment and long-documented abuses against detainees.

Human rights groups and several foreign governments have likewise condemned the plan, which they warn could place migrants in gr...