By Hajer M'tiri
PARIS (AA) – Thousands of refugees, migrants and asylum seekers arbitrarily held in Libyan detention centres must be immediately released and evacuated to safety out of the country, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said on Friday.
As a “fragile ” cease-fire in Tripoli continued for a third day, the aid group urged the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the governments of peaceful countries to organize a mass evacuation for the migrants, who could then claim asylum.
The humanitarian group called on the UN Migration Agency (IOM) to arrange for those seeking to return home and urged the European Union and Libyan authorities to stop blocking boatloads of migrants seeking to flee the conflict-torn country, “with the goal of reducing arrivals to Europe at all costs “.
The violence first erupted late last month after Libya’s Seventh Infantry Brigade (affiliated with the Defense Ministry) accused the Tripoli Revolutionary Brigade (affiliated with the Interior Ministry) of attacking its positions in Tripoli’s southern outskirts.
According to Libya’s Tripoli-based Health Ministry, at least 66 people were killed in fighting that had rocked the capital since August 26. Another 187 were injured over the same period, the ministry said, while 12 more remain unaccounted for.
“Several detention centres in Tripoli are on frontlines and thousands of desperate people are still trapped inside. There is a real risk of mass casualties as a result of indiscriminate shelling and artillery fire, ” said a statement Ibrahim Younis, MSF’s head of mission in Libya.
“Transferring detainees from one detention centre to another within the same conflict zone cannot be described as an evacuation and it is certainly not a solution, ” Younis insisted, adding that “resources and mechanisms exist to bring these people to third countries where their claims for asylum or repatriation can be duly processed. ”
“That’s what needs to happen right now, without delay. This is about saving lives, ” he said.
The charity said its Libya team’s access to refugees and migrants held in detention centres “became impossible from the first day of fighting when hostilities were dangerously close to one of the biggest detention centres holding around 700 people “.
“As the conflict intensified, MSF was unable to access another four detention centres where teams were providing healthcare via regular mobile clinics, ” MSF explained.
Throughout Libya, refugees and migrants face alarming levels of violence, extortion and exploitation, and many report the widespread criminal practice of kidnaping for ransom, according to MSF.
There are many survivors of sexual violence, trafficking, torture and ill-treatment.
Libya has remained dogged by turmoil since 2011 when a bloody NATO-backed uprising led to the death of longstanding leader Muammar Gaddafi after four decades in power.
Since then, Libya’s stark political divisions have yielded two rival seats of power — one in Tobruk and another in Tripoli — and a host of heavily-armed militia groups.
