Italian Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese says that an agreement between Italy and Libya regarding migration must be stay in place, but be amended. She wants more centers in Libya that are directly managed by the UN.
On Tuesday hundreds of migrants were released from a detention center in southern Tripoli and escorted to the UNHCR-run Gathering and Departure Facility (GDF) as heavy gunfire rang out across the Libyan capital. When the migrants arrived at the GDF, they were refused entry and forced to spend the night under the pouring rain, with police allegedly confiscating their mobile phones and banning them from making contact with anyone outside the group. InfoMigrants reports.
The first batch of migrants who were evacuated from Libya are now waiting at a transit center in Rwanda to find out about their refugee status. Regardless of the decision, many of these traumatized people see Rwanda as a transit country, not their new home.
Libya's coast guard rescued 71 migrants stuck at sea over the weekend. While none of them were hurt, some required medical attention upon their return to Libya, according to reports. The migrants have reportedly since left the care of Libyan authorities.
In one week, a total of 493 migrants from sub-Saharan, Arab and Asian countries were collected by Libya's controversial coast guard. They are now in four detention centers in and around Tripoli that are known for overcrowded, inhumane and insecure conditions.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said a Sudanese man died from a gunshot wound in Libya when a group of migrants resisted being sent to a detention center. They were returned to shore by Libya's coast guard after a failed attempt to get to Europe. The IOM demands "alternatives to detention."
Hundreds of refugees trapped in Libyan detention centers are to be evacuated to Rwanda, the UN has announced. A first group of 500 refugees and asylum seekers are expected to be transferred in the coming weeks.
Asylum seekers detained at a migrant center in Malta on Monday staged a protest, demanding to be released. It was the second demonstration in a week.
The UK is one of few countries in Europe to implement a de facto policy of indefinite detention for immigration cases. The Gatwick Detainees Welfare Group (GDWG) is one group calling for an to end that policy. It was set up almost 25 years ago in Crawley near Gatwick Airport. As well as campaigning, its volunteers visit those in detention and try and provide help in their cases.
Famous writers and poets who listen to refugees’ tales and then turn them into accounts or poetry to relay them to the general public -- that's the concept behind the Refugee Tales book series. Now on its third edition, the tales are based on a series of walks which began in 2015 in order to raise awareness about the situation of many refugees and migrants in detention in the UK.
Libyan authorities in Tripoli have announced the shutdown of three migrant detention centers in Misrata, Khoms and Tajoura, which was hit by air strikes that killed at least 53 people.
The EU has said that the current migration management system used by Libya must end. The bloc stressed that it remains committed to fighting human trafficking.