TRIPOLI: The Libyan navy has ordered foreign vessels to stay out of a coastal “search and rescue zone” for migrants headed for Europe, a measure it said targeted non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
“We want to send out a clear message to all those who infringe Libyan sovereignty and lack respect for the coast guard and navy,” Libyan navy spokesman General Ayoub Qassem told a news conference in Tripoli.
Gen. Abdelhakim Bouhaliya, commander of the Tripoli naval base where the conference was held, said: “No foreign ship has the right to enter” the area without authorization from the Libyan authorities.
Libya has “officially declared a search and rescue zone,” said Bouhaliya, without specifying the scope of the exclusion zone.
Qassem said the measure was aimed against “NGOs which pretend to want to rescue illegal migrants and carry out humanitarian actions.”
He urged humanitarian organizations to “respect our will... and obtain authorization from the Libyan state even for rescue operations.”
Italy has also said it wants to keep a tighter rein on NGOs helping the multinational search and rescue operation by making them sign up to a new code of conduct.
Italian authorities last week impounded a boat operated by German aid organization Jugend Rettet on suspicion its crew effectively collaborated with people traffickers in a way that facilitated illegal immigration.
Its crew is suspected of taking on board migrants delivered directly to them by people traffickers, and of allowing the smugglers to make off with their dinghies to be used again.
The Libyan coast guard has accused NGOs of aiding people traffickers in their lucrative business.
Six years since a revolution that toppled longtime dictator Muammar Qaddafi, Libya has become a key departure point for migrants risking their lives to cross the Mediterranean to Europe.
Italy, the main destination of the people traffickers, has sent naval vessels at the request of Libya’s UN-backed Government of National Accord to assist Tripoli, on a mission disputed by rival authorities in eastern Libya.
More than 111,000 migrants have reached Europe by sea so far this year, the vast majority of them arriving in Italy, according to the latest figures from the International Organization for Migration.
Over 2,300 have died attempting the crossing.
Libya navy bars foreign ships from migrant ‘search and rescue’ zone
Libya navy bars foreign ships from migrant ‘search and rescue’ zone
Supplies running out at Syria’s Al-Hol camp as clashes block aid deliveries
DAMASCUS: An international humanitarian organization has warned that supplies are running out at a camp in northeast Syria housing thousands of people linked to the Daesh group, as the country’s government fights to establish control over an area formerly controlled by Kurdish fighters.
The late Friday statement by Save the Children came a week after government forces captured Al-Hol camp, which is home to more than 24,000 people, mostly children and women, including many wives or widows of Daesh members.
The capture of the camp came after intense fighting earlier this month between government forces and members of the Kurdish-led and US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces during which forces loyal to interim President Ahmad Al-Sharaa captured wide areas in eastern and northeastern Syria.
The SDF signed a deal to end the fighting after suffering major defeats, but sporadic clashes between it and the government have continued.
Save the Children said that “critical supplies in Al-Hol camp are running dangerously low” as clashes are blocking the safe delivery of humanitarian aid.
It added that last week’s clashes around the camp forced aid agencies to temporarily suspend regular operations at Al-Hol. It added that the main road leading to the camp remains unsafe, which is preventing humanitarian workers from delivering food and water or running basic services for children and families.
“The situation in Al-Hol camp is rapidly deteriorating as food, water and medicines run dangerously low,” said Rasha Muhrez, Save the Children Syria country director. “If humanitarian organizations are unable to resume work, children will face still more risks in the camp, which was already extremely dangerous for them before this latest escalation.”
Muhrez added that all parties to the conflict must ensure a safe humanitarian corridor to Al-Hol so basic services can resume and children can be protected. “Lives depend on it,” she said.
The SDF announced a new agreement with the central government on Friday, aiming to stabilize a ceasefire that ended weeks of fighting and lay out steps toward integrating the US-backed force into the army and police forces.
