In Libya, traffickers allegedly make migrants pay for a place in a closed detention center. They claim this is a fast-track method for the migrants to be evacuated and resettled in Europe. This information is false, but several hundred people have already fallen victim to the scam.
The French Ministry of Defense announced in February 2019 that it would deliver six semi-rigid speed boats with gun ports to the Libyan coast guard by Spring 2020. On December 2, the government announced they would be halting this delivery after several NGOs filed a lawsuit against the action.
The bodies of five migrants who died when a boat capsized in rough waters off the southern Lampedusa coast a week ago have been found, Italy's coast guard said on Sunday. This brings the overall death toll to 18.
A group of migrants staying at a gathering and departure facility (GDF) in the Libyan capital Tripoli have been accusing the UN Refugee Agency UNHCR, which administers the camp alongside the UN-backed Libyan government, of "starving them out" in order to relieve pressure on the over-crowded and over-burdened facilities. A charge the UNHCR denies.
Italy shares responsibility for the violations of the rights of migrants in Libya, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch (HRW) claim. This month the two organizations submitted a joint third-party intervention to the European Court of Human Rights in a case involving Libya’s abuses against migrants.
A new document by the German government highlights strengths and weaknesses in ongoing EU efforts to evacuate migrants and refugees stranded in Libya. It focused in particular on recent initiatives to move migrants to Rwanda and Niger.
Libya's interim national unity government has issued a decree forcing NGOs running migrant rescue vessels to obtain the permission of Libyan authorities to carry out search and rescue missions in Libyan waters. Italian non-profit Arci said the measure "criminalizes NGOs."
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 Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has called on EU member states to relaunch a naval rescue operation in the Mediterranean. The body, which is not related to the European Union, highlighted that it is the duty of EU member states "not to let people drown in the Mediterranean."
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.
Rwanda has welcomed 66 refugees from other African nations, who had been stuck under dangerous conditions in Libya. The central African country is expected relocate thousands of people stranded in Libya under a new program. However, there are already questions about the future of the program.
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.