Libyan oil war endangers refugees

This 25 February 2019 British TV video says about itself:

European Union immigration: Tortured for trying to enter Europe

New evidence of how Libyan authorities are tackling the “common challenge” of migration. Footage from inside camps in Libya shows migrants living in shocking conditions.

This video was edited on 6th March 2019 following a disputed date/origin.

And there are disturbing signs that some migrants are being tortured … This report contains images that some viewers will find distressing.

Translated from Dutch NOS TV, 24 April 2019:

The United Nations refugee organization has evacuated 325 refugees from a prison camp south of the Libyan capital Tripoli. According to the UNHCR, this was necessary because the safety of the refugees was at stake due to fighting in the neighborhood.

The refugees have been taken from the Qaser Ben Gashir camp to a detention camp near the village of Azzawya, some 50 kilometers west of Tripoli. According to UNHCR, it is safer there.

Today, we relocated some 325 refugees & migrants with @IOM_Libya from Qaser Ben Gasheer detention centre to Azzawya – out of harm and now safe after being trapped in clashes for days @Refugees pic.twitter.com/tGJG7ZvlPD

— UNHCR Libya (@UNHCRLibya) April 24, 2019

Yes, maybe less lethal fights nearby. But still, from one torture camp to another torture camp. While these refugees are not ‘guilty’ of any ‘crime’ worse than fleeing wars in Mali, in South Sudan, etc.

The immediate reason for the UNHCR decision was an incident yesterday, in which twelve migrants were injured when they protested against the conditions in the detention center where they were staying. What exactly happened is unclear, but the migrants had to go to the hospital for treatment. Amnesty International wants an investigation into whether there was a war crime.

“It has never been so dangerous for refugees and migrants in Tripoli as it is today,” says Matthew Brook of the UNHCR mission in Libya. “It is vital that refugees who are in danger are released and evacuated.”

Fear

At another detention camp in the Tajoura suburb, on the east side of Tripoli, Libyans have opened the doors so that refugees who are detained can flee. But according to Reuters news agency nobody dared to leave the camp.

“We can’t go anywhere,” a 20-year-old man told a reporter from the news agency. According to Reuters, most people in the camp do not dare to leave for fear of ending up in battles around the capital.

Offensive

At the beginning of this month the Libyan warlord Haftar started an offensive. He wants to overthrow the … government in Tripoli. Since then, there has been frequent fighting in the Libyan capital.

The UNHCR has already relocated 825 refugees and migrants in the last two weeks because of the fighting. The UN organization wants the 3,000 people still trapped in camps to be released.

Italy has asked the European Union to draw up a plan of action for if a flow of refugees might start due to fighting in Libya.

So, the Italian right-wing Salvini government is much more scared of Libyan and other African refugees fleeing to European countries than of those refugees being killed in the French-Italian proxy oil war in Libya. In this, Emmanuel Macron, French right-wing president and supporter of Libyan warlord Haftar, thinks just like Salvini, his enemy in the proxy oil war in Libya.