IOM Libya Vol. 7/2014
Updated Situation Report
LIBYA
September 14th, 2014
Context Analysis
NEWSLETTER
January 2014
Tripoli witnessed further weeks of violence since 13th July, when an alliance of armed groups primarily from the city of Misrata, launched “Operation Dawn� against the Zintan, allied with fighters from the Warshafana region west of Tripoli. The fighting was particularly intense around Tripoli International Airport but affected other large areas of Tripoli. Local media reported that at least 12 people killed during the recent clashes in areas controlled by Warshafana militia units. The deaths were purported to be caused by Libya Dawn militias who may have targeted a residential area under the control of the Warshafana. As this continued over the first days of last week, the death toll reached allegedly forty three people, which are reported having been killed in shelling since Sunday and 67 injured, of whom 27 are said to be in critical condition. The dead are said be mostly civilians, including 12 children and four women. This situation is further aggravated by the fact that Zahra hospital, the main medical facility in the area, is suffering from a shortage of medicines and medical supplies because of a blockade by militia forces. There is also information indicating severe lack of food supplies, due to the continued clashes which went on for more than 7 days continuously especially in the Sayyad district of Tripoli. Unconfirmed reports suggest that militias operating in the area have been stopping and confiscating food supply vehicles that are attempting to enter Sayyad. The Libyan Coast Guard reported on Wednesday having rescued some 120 irregular migrants of different nationalities after their boat broke down off the coast of Tripoli that sailed from Tajoura in Tripoli bound for Europe, the migrants, mainly Egyptians and Sudanese citizens, including 14 women. . On Saturday 13th, the Italian Coast guard reported to have picked up a total of 386 migrants in the Strait of Sicily, with reports on the same day of a further 400 migrants adrift somewhere at sea.
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In the meantime, foreign embassies are continuing to evacuate their citizens out of Libya. The Indonesian Embassy in Tripoli, has evacuated a further 36 Indonesians employed as cleaning staff, crossing over into Tunisia by road through the Ras Jedir border point. This evacuation was the sixth of its kind to be carried out by the embassy. Since July 29, the embassy had successfully evacuated 171 Indonesians comprising 88 men and 83 women from the country paralyzed by the ongoing fighting between militias in Tripoli and Benghazi and the high crime rate.
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There are also indications that the flow of migrants to and through Libya is not diminishing due to the ongoing clashes. Officials in Ghadames are predicting a disaster unless they can get help with irregular migrants. In the last eight months, the desert town of some 10,000 inhabitants has had to deal with more than 3,000 irregular migrants coming across the border with Algeria. A senior immigration officer accused the Algerians of being responsible for the influx. A major concern is the health of these irregular migrants, especially in the light of the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. The immigration officer also reported that in July 600 migrants were deported back to Algeria, of which 112 were suffering from a liver disease (Libyan Herald).
Migrants in Detention and Third Country Nationals in need of Evacuation According to informal sources, the number of migrants still kept in migrant detention centres is estimated to remain steady at above 2.000 persons; some of them women and children. Some of the centres have either been closed or have reduced the numbers of migrants hosted due to shortages of gas, water and food – adding these migrants to the ever increasing number of migrants, trying to possibly get on a boat to cross the Mediterranean Sea and reach Italy. News agencies in Pakistan reported that another special flight arrived from Tripoli at Lahore, Wednesday morning, with 260 Pakistanis on board. This was the 7th special flight since August 13, 2014 operated by the Government of Pakistan. This brings the total number of Pakistanis airlifted back to their homeland, thus far, to 1987. Around 2,000 destitute Pakistanis, presently housed in relief camps set up by the Pakistan Embassy in Tripoli, are still awaiting evacuation. The total number of Pakistani evacuated by air so far is put at 4700. According to a Pakistan Embassy official in Tripoli on Friday, some 226 Pakistani workers have been released following their detention in Libya. According to him, a total number of 300 Pakistanis has been in detention at the very moment when the crisis broke out. IOM is further proceeding with its efforts to evacuate another group of 4 Ethiopian women, with one infant, as well as one Unaccompanied Minor (UAM), out of Surman detention centre to Tunisia. With the support of the IOM offices in Cairo and Tunisia, IOM Libya has been able to provide them with valid travel documents, as well as NFIs and psychosocial support through members of the psychosocial network, while waiting for evacuation. Although cross-border traffic at the border crossing points between Libya and Tunisia has reached normal volumes in the previous week, informal sources have once again report queues at border as long as 12 km, with waiting hours of 28 hrs and beyond needed to cross into Tunisia. IOM has in total 2844 migrants registered awaiting their evacuation out of Tripoli and Benghazi, as well as other areas where armed clashes are still ongoing. IOM Tripoli staff is in constant contact with most of them, while trying to organize their safe evacuation out of the fighting areas and a fast return to their home countries. Furthermore, IOM has provided travel assistance to a group of 29 stranded migrants from Sudan, who were booked on an Afriqiyah Airways flight from Tripoli to Khartoum on Friday. Preparations are also on the way to arrange the safe passage of a group of more than 120 migrants from Togo, out of Libya in order to return back to their home country safely.
UN Agencies Response On Monday 15th September, IOM will start an intensive 6-day training course for 20 social workers from the LRC and local associations already engaged in the assistance to IDPs and migrants. The training, covered by funds received from the UN Civilian Capacities (CivCap) initiative, will be held in a hotel in Zarzis. On the basis of this training, the next training schedule and thematic areas will be more focused on Protection, assessments and Emergency Response,. The training is preliminary scheduled for 22 – 27 September and will also include social and aid workers from Libyan Red Cross, Psychosocial Center, NGOs and staff from the IOM Tripoli office.
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Tunis, September 14th, 2014