Several people have died following another shipwreck along the Libyan coast over the weekend. The incident took place near the capital, Tripoli. The exact number of victims is so far unknown; however, according to initial reports, there were three bodies washed up on the beach near the town of Al-Zawiya, about 50 kilometers west of Tripoli.
Since April 2019, deaths have been reported daily on the outskirts of the Libyan capital Tripoli due to landmines and explosive traps left there. The clashes between the forces of the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord and troops led by eastern commander Khalifa Haftar have been going on for over 400 days now.
Due to the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, UN refugee agency UNHCR has closed two of its facilities in the Libyan capital Tripoli until Tuesday, March 24. Hotlines for asylum seekers and refugees are still available, says UNHCR.
In mid-February, round 300 migrants were intercepted at sea by the Libyan coast guard and transferred to a detention center at Sharah Zawiya, in the south of Libya's capital Tripoli. The center has been open for at least a year. Recently, it has been taken under the control of the UN-backed government and has become accessible to the IOM.
As the armed conflict continues in the Libyan capital Tripoli and the surrounding areas, the number of displaced has reached over 350,000 people, according to the UN. A health care center in Tripoli is offering childbirth and other services for displaced migrant and refugee women.
A young Eritrean migrant was killed in a recent fire that ravaged part of the Zintan detention center in Libya. The cause of the fire is unknown, but migrants there fear further incidents as conditions in the center are poor and cells are overcrowded.
Caroline Gluck, Senior External Relations Officer at UNHCR Libya, talks about why the UN agency decided to suspend operations at the Gathering and Departure Facility (GDF) in Tripoli and what her staff is doing on the ground to help refugees and asylum seekers in Libya.
In Tajoura, a suburb of the Libyan capital Tripoli, migrants from sub-Sahara Africa line the sides of the streets in the hopes of being hired as day laborers. Locals often stop here to offer them a job for a day or two, but the migrants are often treated badly, they told us.
The UN Refugee Agency announced it will suspend its operational work at the Gathering and Departure Facility (GDF) for refugees and asylum seekers in Tripoli, Libya, amid fears “for the safety and protection of people at the facility.”
A precarious truce in Tripoli appears to be largely holding following a conference in Berlin on Sunday, according to sources on the ground. After a few clashes were reported on Sunday night, the situation has become calm again.
According to the UN refugee agency, the Gathering and Departure Facility in the capital of Libya is so overcrowded that it can no longer functions as a transit center for vulnerable migrants.
An Italian newspaper claims that three of the 40 rescued migrants who came to Italy in June with German NGO ship Sea-Watch 3 ran a migrant detention center near in Libya where migrants were tortured. Police allegedly concealed their arrest, which happened on the day of their disembarkation.