TRIPOLI: The UN plans to move up to 10,000 illegal migrants from Libya next year, a senior UN official said on Tuesday, in a bid to relieve the plight of thousands stranded in deteriorating conditions in detention centers there.
Libya is the main departure point for migrants fleeing poverty or war to reach Europe by boat as smugglers exploit turmoil gripping the country since the 2011 overthrow of Muammar Qaddafi.
Illegal migrant arrivals in Italy have fallen by two-thirds since July from the same period last year since the UN-backed government in Tripoli, Italy’s partner, cut back human smuggling at one major hub. Italy also helps in the Libyan coast guard’s operations.
But activists say the push has led to worsening of conditions in detention centers, where Human Rights Watch and other groups say migrants face overcrowding, abuse, lack of medical facilities and a shortage of food.
The UN is repatriating migrants to African countries willing to take them back but it was also in talks with European countries and Canada to take in some refugees, Roberto Mignone, chief mission of the UN refugee agency, said.
“This week we are going to send out of Libya 350 refugees, until the end of January we will send out at least 1000,” he told Reuters in an interview.
“In 2018 we are planning to send out of Libya between 5,000 to 10,000 refugees. We give priority to women, children, elderly, disabled, persons who suffered very seriously.”
A total of 44,306 had been registered as refugees and asylum seekers in Libya, he said.
Libyan officials deny abuses and say they are simply overwhelmed by a surge in arrivals amid little funds to accommodate them as public finances have been hit by a loss of oil revenues.
The issue of repatriations has got higher attention abroad since CNN published a video showing what it said was an auction of men offered to Libyan buyers as farmhands and sold for $400.
In November, Libya’s UN-backed government said it was investigating the report and promised to bring the perpetrators to justice.
But it has struggled to make an impact as the country is effect controlled by armed factions.
UN to move 10,000 migrants from Libya in 2018
UN to move 10,000 migrants from Libya in 2018
EU warns Israel suspending Gaza NGOs would block ‘life-saving aid’
BRUSSELS: The EU warned Wednesday that Israel's threat to suspend several aid groups in Gaza from January would block "life-saving" assistance from reaching the population.
"The EU has been clear: the NGO registration law cannot be implemented in its current form," EU humanitarian chief Hadja Lahbib posted on X, after Israel said several groups would be barred for failing to provide details of their Palestinian employees.
"IHL (international humanitarian law) leaves no room for doubt: aid must reach those in need," Lahbib wrote.
NGOs had until December 31 to register under the new framework, which Israel says aims to prevent "hostile actors or supporters of terrorism" operating in the Palestinian territories, rather than impede aid.
Israeli authorities announced Tuesday that organisations which "refused to submit a list of their Palestinian employees in order to rule out any links to terrorism" had received notice that their licences would be revoked as of January 1, with an obligation to cease all activities by March 1.
Israel has not disclosed the number of groups facing a ban, but it has specifically called out Doctors Without Borders (MSF) for failing to meet the rules. It accused the medical charity of employing two individuals with links to Palestinian armed groups.
The Israeli government told AFP earlier this month that 14 NGO requests had been rejected as of November 25.
Several NGOs said the new rules will have a major impact on aid distribution in Gaza, with humanitarian organisations saying the amount of aid entering Gaza remains inadequate.
While an accord for a ceasefire that started on October 10 stipulated the entry of 600 trucks per day, only 100 to 300 are carrying humanitarian aid, according to NGOs and the United Nations.
COGAT, the Israeli defence ministry body responsible for Palestinian civilian affairs, said last week that on average 4,200 aid trucks enter Gaza weekly, which corresponds to around 600 daily.
