ADDIS ABABA, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopia is working to repatriate its citizens stranded in conflict wracked Libya, an Ethiopian official said on Thursday.

Speaking to reporters, Meles Alem, Spokesperson for Ethiopia Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), said his country is collaborating with International Organization for Migration (IOM) to give travel documents to stranded Ethiopians in Libya.

He further said already 30 Ethiopians in Libya have been given travel documents and would soon return.

The exact number of Ethiopians stranded in Libya is yet to be identified by the Ethiopian government.

The civil war in Libya that has engulfed the North African nation ever since the demise of longtime leader Muammer Gadhafi in 2011 has made it a haven for terrorists and criminals.

Stories of African migrants being sold to slavery in Libya has been harrowing to Ethiopians who still remember the execution of about two dozen Ethiopian migrants by terrorists in April 2015 in Libya.

It is estimated thousands of Ethiopians have in recent years used Libya as a transit point to be smuggled to European countries.