“It’s difficult to deal with this,” they added. There are thought to be more than 645,000 migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers in Libya. Further, their lives remain at risk due to the escalation of the ongoing conflict. Since early April, fighting in and around the capital has pitted Libya’s internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) and the militias that back it against eastern forces led by general Khalifa Haftar. Susan Rice to be in Biden White House . The move came as part of a 55 billion euro ($59.6 billion) stimulus package approved on Wednesday by the coalition government to help the sagging Italian economy, which has been battered by the effects of the coronavirus. The Ministry said in a statement that the most recent flight was destined for the state of Rwanda and left on December 29, 2020 accommodating 130 migrants as part of the humanitarian return program. If you are talented and passionate about human rights then Amnesty International wants to hear from you. By supporting the Libyan authorities in stopping sea crossings and containing people in Libya, Italy has made itself complicit in this abuse,” said Marie Struthers. But Italy does not directly pay salaries and – despite denials of any problems with payments from the Coast Guard spokesperson – three officers insisted they were not being paid. As a major part of Europe’s strategy to stop smuggling, EU countries (led by Italy) have spent more than 90 million euros ($97 million) since 2017 on providing training, equipment, ships, and assistance to the Libyan Coast Guard. News comment on search and rescue in the Central Mediterranean by Gillian Triggs, Assistant High Commissioner for Protection at UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency UNHCR, 01 May 2020 UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is calling for greater coordination, solidarity and responsibility-sharing, in view of the increased movements of refugees and migrants in the Mediterranean Sea. Available online. One person from Darfur, who spoke to TNH via WhatsApp from a detention centre near the Libyan coast, said, “people are crying hysterically”, having learned they are unlikely to be evacuated from Libya. Neither the EU nor the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded to requests for comment from TNH in time for publication. The Red Crescent oversees three shelters in Medenine — one for migrants, one for asylum seekers and one for women and children — with the support of International Organization for Migration and the U.N. In the first six months of 2017, the number of migrants crossing the Mediterranean from Libya to Italy dropped by around half. Relatives of the 18 fishermen from Mazaro del Vallo, Sicily, seized by Libyan forces in September 2020, gather in front of a banner reading "Free the fishermen of Mazara" | Andreas Solaro/AFP via Getty Images “It has happened in the past that we couldn't reach the DCIM and we were not able to bring people to the detention centre,” said a Coast Guard spokesperson. The evacuated group included men, women, and children from Eritrea, Sudan, and Somalia. According to several sources in the GNA’s Directorate for Combating Illegal Migration (DCIM), some migrants – upon interception by the Coast Guard in the Mediterranean – are no longer being brought to detention, as has been common practice, because the government is unable to feed them. The officer – sent last year to Italy for training along with dozens of other Coast Guard members – said he and his colleagues were still doing their jobs, but were often not reporting to duty until they were called upon. ‘Everyone is facing danger. Covering the latest news on the north African country. Latest figures say 4,265 migrants have reached Italy so far in 2019, down 78 percent on the same period in 2018 and down 96 percent on 2017 levels. 2020. But while conditions in the centres are often reported as horrific, some people inside have been left wondering what will happen if they are closed down without any warning, given reports of widespread abuse of migrants across the country. The Italian government should suspend all support to the Libyan Coast Guard until Libya commits to a clear plan to fully respect migrants’ safety and rights, Human Rights Watch said today. An early February statement from the GNA’s Ministry of Finance said some public officials were not being paid. Find Italy Migrants Latest News, Videos & Pictures on Italy Migrants and see latest updates, news, information from NDTV.COM. While numbers are not definite, it is estimated that between 3,200 and 5,000 of them are being held in GNA-affiliated centres across western Libya, where conditions are often desperate, and abuse is rife. “During the three years since original deal was struck, at least 40,000 people, including thousands of children, have been intercepted at sea, returned to Libya and exposed to unimaginable suffering. The return was confirmed by the IOM.   |   The U.N. Is Leaving Migrants to Die in Libya. Foreign Policy, September 10, 2019. The UN’s migration agency, IOM, says at least 1,700 migrants have been intercepted or rescued by the Coast Guard and brought back to Libyan shores since the beginning of this year. Tens of thousands have fled fighting in Libya’s capital. “We are doing our best to keep them running.”. It also explained that 316 migrants have died while 417 others went The move drew fire, in part because some European politicians said the mission would withdraw its ships if they proved to be a draw for migrants leaving Libya’s shores and hoping to be rescued. That includes vulnerable people who came to the country to escape conflict. In a letter dated 13 February and published this week, the Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights urged Italy to suspend its work with the Coast Guard despite the recent renewal of its agreement, saying, “I am gravely concerned about certain types of assistance provided to Libya, in particular to the Libyan Coast Guard, which have resulted in increased interceptions of migrants and asylum seekers at sea, and their subsequent return to Libya, where they are subjected to serious human rights violations.”. “I have not been paid my salary for four months now, and this will be the fifth month,” one of the officers, based in the Mediterranean port city of Khoms, told TNH. Two sources in the DCIM said the company contracted by the GNA to bring food to the detention centres has been unable to work for more than two months in the west of the country due to the deteriorating security situation. Libya is unable to care for its own population, let alone the tens of thousands of migrant workers its struggling economy relies on. Over 200 migrants have disembarked the humanitarian vessel Open Arms off the coast of Sicily and are undergoing quarantine. Italian fishermen held in Libya freed after more than 100 days Prime minister and foreign minister flew to Benghazi as announcement was made. Al-Shibani of the Ministry of Interior said “the food problem” was not the GNA’s fault, but rather “the company cannot operate properly due to the security situation”, adding that the government had signed contracts with new catering companies, and “we are hoping they will start operating as soon as possible”. The UN estimates that some 3,200 migrants are being held in detention centres officially run by the GNA-affiliated DCIM and controlled by armed groups in the west of the country. Since the EU and Italy began training, funding, equipping, and providing operational assistance to the Libyan Coast Guard in 2017, that number stands at … Refugee Agency. However, the source said, in some “emergency situations” where migrants have been completely without food, the WFP has stepped in to help. Members of the Italian-trained and EU-funded Libyan Coast Guard told The New Humanitarian they are not being paid, and the Tripoli-based government is struggling to feed people in its often-criticised migrant detention centres. Help us deliver informative, accessible, independent journalism that you can trust and provides accountability to the millions of people affected by crises worldwide. In a December 2018 report, the UN’s mission to Libya said that conditions in the DCIM’s detention centres are “generally inhuman, falling far short of international human rights standards”, citing overcrowding, poor hygiene, inadequate ventilation and lighting, and insufficient sanitation as problems. The EU also continued to back the Libyan Coast Guard , which intercepted more than 10,000 people , dragging them back to detention centres where thousands disappeared from the official radar into a shadowy system of extortion and … We link to the best sources from around the world.   |   On 2 February, exactly three years after it was first signed, the Memorandum of Understanding on Migration between Italy and Libya will be extended for a further three years with no amendments. Peace efforts have so far failed to secure a lasting truce – both sides said Monday that they were suspending participation in UN-backed talks – and the violence has forced nearly 150,000 people to flee their homes. More than 6,500 asylum seekers and migrants have been intercepted at sea and returned to Libya by the Libyan Coast Guard so far this year. “It defies comprehension that, despite the evidence of suffering inflicted as a direct result of this abhorrent deal, and despite the escalation of the conflict in Libya, Italy is prepared to renew it. These include 947 people intercepted this month alone,” said Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s Europe Director. 98 Europe-bound migrants who were rescued by a commercial ship flying a Portuguese flag have been returned to Libya via the Libyan navy. Available online. On 30 January, UNHCR announced that it is suspending its operations at the Gathering and Departure Facility (GDF), a transit centre inaugurated just over a year ago in Tripoli, fearing for the safety and protection of people at the facility, its staff and partners. “Tens of thousands of refugees and migrants are trapped in an escalating war-zone. Untold numbers of households from Chad to Egypt to Sudan depend on remittances from Libya. (Hannah Wallace Bowman/MSF/REUTERS), ‘I’m waiting for my documents, but if I don’t get them I’ll go by sea.’, ‘You will not be considered for evacuation or resettlement if you stay.’, They are ‘literally just taking a humanitarian activity and labelling it as a crime’, 25 years of journalism from the heart of crises, both sides said Monday that they were suspending participation, Yacoub El Hillo, said last week that the conflict, 645,000 migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers in Libya, In a letter dated 13 February and published this week, European foreign ministers announced a new naval mission, pressure from populist European governments, UN’s mission to Libya said that conditions. IOM estimates that in February 2020 there were at least 654,000 migrants in Libya. 2019. The UN’s humanitarian coordinator for Libya, Yacoub El Hillo, said last week that the conflict is "severely impacting civilians in all parts of the country on a scale never seen before". The EU’s cooperation with the Libyan Coast Guard – part of a programme called “integrated border management and migration management to Libya” – has come under heavy scrutiny. The Italian government had originally committed to negotiate amendments to address the dire situation of refugees and migrants in Libya; however, although the Italian government has so far failed to secure the amendments, it will continue to cooperate with Libya nonetheless. As Libya descends further into chaos and faces an ongoing monetary crisis, many of the country’s institutions have begun to collapse, including some of those responsible for migration. Last week, European foreign ministers announced a new naval mission – a revamped version of Operation Sophia, which aimed to disrupt smuggling networks in the Mediterranean but stopped using boats in March 2019 – to help enforce an arms embargo that the UN says has been consistently violated. The IOM said, on Wednesday, that among the returned migrants this year, 811 women and 711 children. More than 10 months into a conflict that is wreaking havoc across Libya, civilians are enduring increasing danger and hardship, in particular hundreds of thousands of migrants and asylum seekers, many of whom are hoping to reach Europe by crossing the Mediterranean. ... 11 migrants drown off Libya; third shipwreck in week. Cookie Statement In its reply to the Council of Europe commissioner, Italy said its overall objective is to “progressively replace the current system based on detention centres with new formulas, adhering to the principles of the rule of law, victim-centred, and human rights oriented”. In 2017, the number of people departing from Libya dropped dramatically. ... Italy and France in spat after French police drug tested migrant. Earlier this month, Italy renewed the Memorandum of Understanding that governs its cooperation with the GNA authorities. Situation at EU External Borders – Arrivals Down in First Half of 2020. The renewal, and the initiative in general, has been knocked by rights groups, given that the Coast Guard regularly returns the people it intercepts at sea to migrant detention centres back on land. During the three years since original deal was struck, at least 40,000 people, including thousands of children, have been intercepted at sea, returned to Libya and exposed to unimaginable suffering, Tens of thousands of refugees and migrants are trapped in an escalating war-zone, By supporting the Libyan authorities in stopping sea crossings and containing people in Libya, Italy has made itself complicit in this abuse, ONE YEAR TOO LONG: BURUNDIANS ARBITRARILY DETAINED FOR THEIR JOURNALISM, Russia: Authorities use farcical surprise “hearing” to keep Aleksei Navalny behind bars, Tunisia: Authorities must refrain from using unnecessary and excessive force against protesters, Russia: Aleksei Navalny becomes prisoner of conscience after arrest on arrival in Moscow. Italy on Wednesday defended its policy on blocking migrants in Libya, saying the deal, denounced as "inhumane" by the UN, was essential to stop boat departures towards Europe. Italy has paved the way for tens of thousands of undocumented migrants to become legal residents by applying for work permits. Explore more on Italy Migrants. “But we feel that outside the detention centre we will be in danger.”, With additional reporting from Annie Slemrod. You can use this tool to change your cookie settings. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has confirmed that 11891 illegal immigrants who tried to flee Libya were intercepted or rescued and returned so far this year, compared to 9,225 in 2019.   |   US Election 2020. Italy agreed to train, equip and support the Libyan Coast Guard and other Libyan authorities, with the aim of allowing them to intercept people at sea and return them to Libya. The Memorandum of Understanding was initially signed in an attempt to prevent refugees and migrants from reaching  Italy’s shores by keeping people in Libya. International Organization for Migration (IOM). Refunds of donations. Libya: Renewal of migration deal confirms Italy’s complicity in torture of migrants and refugees. Otherwise, we'll assume you're OK to continue. The pandemic accelerated trends towards more restrictive migration policies and a disregard for the human rights of asylum seekers and migrants in 2020. “They feel safer here than they did in Libya, but at the same time they feel stuck.” Word is out. After rescuing 265 migrants in two operations in the Mediterranean Sea within three days, Italy has allowed the Spanish flagged rescue ship Open Arms to bring its passengers to the Italian island of Sicily. Many – but not all – were taken to detention centres. The public discourse around migration in Italy has also changed dramatically since 2014. Even before the past months of fighting worsened Libya’s downward spiral, conditions inside the centres were desperate. Another source in the DCIM contested this allegation, and said the reason for the lack of food was that the government had not paid the catering company. Right-wing populist parties, such as Salvini’s League, have stoked anti-migrant sentiments, pushing aside a humanitarian narrative that was more prominent in the past. The governments decided to extend the deal October 2019. Stay on top of Libya latest developments on the ground with Al Jazeera’s fact-based news, exclusive video footage, photos and updated maps. Other sources put the number closer to 5,000, and it is unclear how many migrants are being held elsewhere, either in parts of the country the GNA does not control, or in locations humanitarians are simply not aware of. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. To date, no one has been held accountable for the airstrike. Permissions Libya news - updated 24/7/365. The Ministry of Interior reported that the number of migrants deported from Libya during the year 2020, reached 5,360 migrants. Middle East. In parallel, the number of migrants arriving in Italy and Malta after having crossed the Mediterranean Sea from the Libyan and Tunisian shores between April and October 2020 … “I have not been paid my salary for four months now, and this will be the fifth month.”. Meanwhile, a UN source, who insisted on anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation, said that the World Food Programme does not generally provide assistance inside detention centres because of both a lack of access and the international community’s opposition to their existence. At least 20 migrants and refugees died when their boat capsized off Tunisia’s coast as they tried to cross the Mediterranean to the Italian island of Lampedusa, Tunisian authorities said. Freelance journalist focused on conflict, human rights and humanitarian issues. 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