TRIPOLI: Hundreds of African migrants escaped from a detention center in Tripoli on Tuesday as fighting between rival groups raged nearby, an aid official said, though the Libyan government department set up to combat illegal migration denied the report.
A video posted on social media on Tuesday purportedly showed hundreds of Africans, some carrying plastic bags, walking in a long line away from the detention center. It is located on the road to the former Tripoli International Airport, which was destroyed in a battle between rival militias in 2014.
Libya is a major departure point in North Africa for migrants crossing the Mediterranean Sea to Europe, mainly from other parts of Africa.
The aid official, who works for an international organization, said as many as 1,800 migrants might have escaped the facility on Tuesday. It was unclear where they had gone.
If confirmed, this would mean that almost a quarter of Libya’s jailed migrants, mostly Africans, are on the run. Most had been jailed after the Libyan coast guard intercepted their makeshift boats bound for Italy.
Fighting between rival Libyan groups lasting for more than one week has spread from the airport, located south of Tripoli, toward the city.
Tripoli is formally controlled by the internationally recognized Government of National Accord, but armed groups working with it act with autonomy. Eastern Libya is controlled by a rival administration.
Last Thursday UN agencies and authorities relocated hundreds of migrants from government-run detention centers in southern Tripoli to safer locations.
In a further sign of chaos, some 400 prisoners also escaped on Sunday from a jail in southern Tripoli, forcing open the doors as the guards retreated.
The United Nations mission called for a meeting on Tuesday to discuss the deteriorating security situation, but officials were not available to confirm that it was still going ahead.
The number of illegal migrants crossing the Mediterranean to Europe has fallen off sharply since Italy provided the Libyan coast guard with more boats and brokered deals with local groups in a smuggler hub last year.
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Hundreds of African migrants flee detention center in Tripoli chaos — aid official
Hundreds of African migrants flee detention center in Tripoli chaos — aid official
- Libya is a major departure point in North Africa for migrants crossing the Mediterranean Sea to Europe
- As many as 1,800 migrants might have escaped the facility on Tuesday, an aid official said
Syria begins circulating new post-Assad currency bills
- Presidential decree said new Syrian currency will be issued by removing two zeros from the nominal value of the old currency
- Central Bank govenor says Syrians can now exchange old Syrian pounds with new banknotes
DAMASCUS, Syria: Syria started the process of circulating new currency bills on Saturday as the nation seeks to stabilize the economy as it recovers from the fall of Bashar Assad’s government.
A decree issued earlier this week by President Ahmad Al-Sharaa said that “old Syrian currency” will be gradually withdrawn from circulation according to a timetable set by the central bank and through designated exchange centers.
Central Bank Governor Mokhles Nazer posted on X that after months of preparations, the exchange of old Syrian pounds with new banknotes officially began Saturday morning.
The presidential decree posted on the SANA state news agency stipulates that “new Syrian currency” will be issued by removing two zeros from the nominal value of the old currency. It means every 100 Syrian pounds of the old currency will now equate to one Syrian pound.
The largest denomination of the old currency was 5,000 Syrian pound, while under the new currency it is 500 pounds.
The US dollar was selling at exchange shops in Damascus on Saturday for 11,800 pounds for the old banknotes, some of which bear the images of Assad and his late father and predecessor, Hafez Assad.
At the start of Syria’s conflict in mid-March 2011, the US dollar was worth 47 Syrian pounds.
Since insurgent groups led by Al-Sharaa’s Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham marched into Damascus in December 2024 to end the Assad family’s 54-year rule, work has been ongoing by the country’s new authorities to improve the economy battered by years of war and Western sanctions.
The US and the European Union have removed most of the sanctions imposed on Syria during Assad’s rule.
A decree issued earlier this week by President Ahmad Al-Sharaa said that “old Syrian currency” will be gradually withdrawn from circulation according to a timetable set by the central bank and through designated exchange centers.
Central Bank Governor Mokhles Nazer posted on X that after months of preparations, the exchange of old Syrian pounds with new banknotes officially began Saturday morning.
The presidential decree posted on the SANA state news agency stipulates that “new Syrian currency” will be issued by removing two zeros from the nominal value of the old currency. It means every 100 Syrian pounds of the old currency will now equate to one Syrian pound.
The largest denomination of the old currency was 5,000 Syrian pound, while under the new currency it is 500 pounds.
The US dollar was selling at exchange shops in Damascus on Saturday for 11,800 pounds for the old banknotes, some of which bear the images of Assad and his late father and predecessor, Hafez Assad.
At the start of Syria’s conflict in mid-March 2011, the US dollar was worth 47 Syrian pounds.
Since insurgent groups led by Al-Sharaa’s Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham marched into Damascus in December 2024 to end the Assad family’s 54-year rule, work has been ongoing by the country’s new authorities to improve the economy battered by years of war and Western sanctions.
The US and the European Union have removed most of the sanctions imposed on Syria during Assad’s rule.
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