Ex-French president Nicolas Sarkozy charged with conspiracy in illegal campaign funding probe<\/a><\/li><li class=\"c-widget-related__item\"><a class=\"c-widget-related__article\" href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.euronews.com//2020//09//26//russia-china-blocking-report-into-libya-conflict-arms-embargo-violations/">Russia, China blocking report into Libya conflict arms embargo violations<\/a><\/li><li class=\"c-widget-related__item\"><a class=\"c-widget-related__article\" href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.euronews.com//2020//08//21//ceasefire-announced-in-libya-after-nine-years-of-political-crisis/">Ceasefire announced in Libya after nine years of political crisis<\/a><\/li>\n <\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n<p>Foreign mercenaries will depart \"from all Libyan territories land, air and sea\" within three months, she added, referring to the thousands of Syrian fighters deployed by Turkey and Russia on opposite sides of the war. The agreement also involves the formation of a joint military force and a way to monitor violations, Williams said. The deal will be sent to the UN Security Council.<\/p>\n<p>UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres hailed the cease-fire as a \"critical step,\" but said at a press conference at UN headquarters in New York that \u201cthere is much hard work ahead.\"<\/p>\n<p>He urged regional actors to respect the cease-fire provisions and the international community to support Libyans in implementing them, including by upholding the widely flouted U.N. arms embargo.<\/p>\n<p>The US State Department welcomed the agreement, calling it \u201cpositive news.\"<\/p>\n<p>\"We understand that this agreement was reached by Libyans alone, on both sides of the conflict, who are taking decisive steps to reassert their sovereignty over Libya,\" the statement said. \"As reported, the agreement demands that all foreign mercenaries and militaries must withdraw from Libya.\"<\/p>\n<p>Shortly after the announcement of the deal, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said it did not appear to be credible \u2014 even as he expressed hope that all parties would stick to it. \"Time will show how long it will last,\" he added, questioning the list of delegates and whether it would be \"correct\" for mercenaries to leave so quickly.<\/p>\n<p>Following Libya's descent into chaos, a UN-recognized government holds sway in the capital, Tripoli, in western Libya, while the forces of military commander Khalifa Hifter run most of the east and south. Turkey is the main patron of the Tripoli government, while the United Arab Emirates, Russia and Egypt back Hifter. Both sides are also supported by an array of fractious militias, though the administrations often struggle to control them.<\/p>\n<p>Ali Abushahma, a field commander for the administration in Tripoli and the head of its delegation, said: \"We have had enough suffering, enough bloodshed.\"<\/p>\n<p>\"I appeal to all Libya: Be one hand,\" he added, warning of polarisation by factions.<\/p>\n<p>The agreement was welcomed by Egypt's foreign minister as well as German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, whose country hosted a major international conference on Libya this year that sought to curb foreign powers\u2019 interference in the country.<\/p>\n<p>The US Embassy in Libya called it \"a major step forward toward realizing the shared interests of all Libyans.\"<\/p>\n","hashtag":null,"createdAt":1603478068,"updatedAt":1723539856,"publishedAt":1603482033,"firstPublishedAt":1603482251,"lastPublishedAt":1603482251,"expiresAt":0,"images":[{"url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/05\/08\/09\/30\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_643dd223-afb5-5c4c-a18c-b335945305f9-5080930.jpg","altText":"Accord agreed after five days of talks at the United Nations in Geneva","caption":"Accord agreed after five days of talks at the United Nations in Geneva","captionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"AP Photo","sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"callToActionText":null,"width":1920,"height":1080}],"authors":{"journalists":[],"producers":[],"videoEditor":[]},"keywords":[{"id":8011,"slug":"muammar-gaddafi","urlSafeValue":"muammar-gaddafi","title":"Muammar Gaddafi","titleRaw":"Muammar Gaddafi"},{"id":172,"slug":"libya","urlSafeValue":"libya","title":"Libya","titleRaw":"Libya"},{"id":10515,"slug":"libyan-war","urlSafeValue":"libyan-war","title":"Libyan war","titleRaw":"Libyan war"}],"widgets":[{"slug":"related","count":1}],"related":[{"id":1297738}],"technicalTags":[],"externalPartners":{"youtubeId":"K0k62fTuJSQ"},"hasExternalVideo":1,"hasInternalOrExternalVideo":1,"video":1,"videos":[{"format":"mp4","quality":"md","type":"normal","url":"https:\/\/video.euronews.com\/mp4\/med\/EN\/WB\/WB\/20\/10\/23\/en\/201023_WBWB_13631023_13631026_195920_203942_en.mp4","editor":"","duration":195920,"filesizeBytes":19140096,"expiresAt":0}],"liveStream":[{"startDate":0,"endDate":0}],"scribbleLiveId":0,"scribbleLiveRibbon":0,"isLiveCoverage":0,"sourceId":1,"sources":[],"externalSource":null,"additionalSources":"","additionalReporting":"Euronews and AP","freeField1":null,"freeField2":"","type":"normal","displayType":"default","program":{"id":"world","urlSafeValue":"world","title":"World News","online":1,"url":"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/programs\/world"},"season":"","episode":"","episodeId":"","vertical":"news","verticals":[{"id":1,"slug":"news","urlSafeValue":"news","title":"News"}],"primaryVertical":{"id":1,"slug":"news","urlSafeValue":"news","title":"News"},"themes":[{"id":"news","urlSafeValue":"news","title":"World","url":"\/news\/international"}],"primaryTheme":{"id":1,"urlSafeValue":"news","title":"World"},"advertising":0,"advertisingData":{"startDate":0,"endDate":0,"type":null,"slug":null,"title":null,"disclaimerLabelKey":null,"sponsor":null,"sponsorName":null,"sponsorUrl":null,"sponsorLogo":"","sponsorLogoReverse":"","isDfp":0},"geoLocation":{"lat":0,"lon":0},"location":1,"continent":{"id":3,"urlSafeValue":"africa","title":"Africa"},"country":{"id":172,"urlSafeValue":"libya","title":"Libya","url":"\/news\/africa\/libya"},"town":[],"contextualSignals":{"doubleVerify":{"ids":[],"slugs":[]}},"grapeshot":"'gs_politics','sm_politics','neg_facebook_2021','gs_politics_misc','pos_equinor','pos_facebook','pos_pmi','gv_military','gt_negative','neg_mobkoi_castrol','castrol_negative_uk','neg_nespresso','neg_facebook_q4','neg_facebook','gt_negative_anger','gt_negative_fear'","versions":[],"programDeliverable":{"slug":"sujet-web","format":"default"},"showOpinionDisclaimer":0,"allViews":0,"allViewsMeta":{"pointOfView":[],"survey":[],"tweetId":0,"tweet2NdId":0,"displayOverlay":0},"storyTranslationMethod":[],"localisation":[],"autoPublished":0,"autoLocalised":0,"isReviewed":0,"path":"\/2020\/10\/23\/libya-s-rival-factions-sign-un-brokered-permanent-ceasefire-in-geneva","lastModified":1603482251},{"id":1194942,"cid":4900620,"versionId":2,"archive":0,"housenumber":"200821_WBWB_12931009","owner":"euronews","isMagazine":0,"isBreakingNews":0,"daletEventName":"web lybia ceasefire","daletPyramidId":null,"channels":[{"id":1},{"id":2},{"id":4},{"id":5},{"id":12}],"status":2,"title":"Ceasefire announced in Libya after nine years of political crisis","titleSeo":null,"titleListing1":"Ceasefire announced in Libya after nine years of political crisis","titleListing2":"The UN has called for the expulsion of all mercenaries from the country.","leadin":"The UN has called for the expulsion of all mercenaries from the country.","summary":"The UN has called for the expulsion of all mercenaries from the country.","keySentence":"","url":"ceasefire-announced-in-libya-after-nine-years-of-political-crisis","canonical":"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/2020\/08\/21\/ceasefire-announced-in-libya-after-nine-years-of-political-crisis","masterCms":"v2","plainText":"Libya's two rival governments have announced an immediate ceasefire across the whole country. \n\nIt comes after nine years of conflict between the UN and Turkey-backed government in Tripoli and the France, Russia, Egypt and UAE-backed rival in Libya's east. \n\nOn Friday, the UN-supported government led by Fayez al-Sarraj called for the demilitarisation of the contested town of Sirte. \n\nIn a separate statement, Aguila Saleh, president of the rival east-based House of Representatives, also called for a ceasefire. \n\nBoth administrations called for an end to an oil blockade imposed earlier this year. \n\nThe Tripoli-based government also intends to schedule parliamentary and presidential elections for March. \n\nLibya was plunged into chaos when a NATO-backed uprising in 2011 toppled longtime dictator Moammar Gadaffi, who was later killed by rebel fighters. \n\nThe UN mission in Libya welcomed both statements and called for the expulsion of all foreign forces and mercenaries - which are fighting on both sides - from the country. \n\n\u201cThe two initiatives have created hope for forging a peaceful political solution to the longstanding Libyan crisis, a solution that will affirm the desire of the Libyan people to live in peace and dignity,\u201d said Stephanie Williams, acting head of the UN mission. \n\n","htmlText":"<p>Libya's two rival governments have announced an immediate ceasefire across the whole country.<\/p>\n<p>It comes after nine years of conflict between the UN and Turkey-backed government in Tripoli and the France, Russia, Egypt and UAE-backed rival in Libya's east.<\/p>\n<p>On Friday, the UN-supported government led by Fayez al-Sarraj called for the demilitarisation of the contested town of Sirte.<\/p>\n<p>In a separate statement, Aguila Saleh, president of the rival east-based House of Representatives, also called for a ceasefire.<\/p>\n<p>Both administrations called for an end to an oil blockade imposed earlier this year.<\/p>\n<p>The Tripoli-based government also intends to schedule parliamentary and presidential elections for March.<\/p>\n<p>Libya was plunged into chaos when a NATO-backed uprising in 2011 toppled longtime dictator Moammar Gadaffi, who was later killed by rebel fighters.<\/p>\n<p>The UN mission in Libya welcomed both statements and called for the expulsion of all foreign forces and mercenaries - which are fighting on both sides - from the country.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe two initiatives have created hope for forging a peaceful political solution to the longstanding Libyan crisis, a solution that will affirm the desire of the Libyan people to live in peace and dignity,\u201d said Stephanie Williams, acting head of the UN mission.<\/p>\n","hashtag":null,"createdAt":1598007580,"updatedAt":1723539856,"publishedAt":1598010973,"firstPublishedAt":1598010978,"lastPublishedAt":1598027253,"expiresAt":0,"images":[{"url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/90\/06\/20\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_a6bf6a46-b7b2-566a-a08f-97362dc79390-4900620.jpg","altText":"a Libyan woman flashes the victory sign at Tahrir Square, during the second anniversary of the uprising that toppled dictator Moammar Gadhafi in Benghazi, Libya, Feb 17, 2013","caption":"a Libyan woman flashes the victory sign at Tahrir Square, during the second anniversary of the uprising that toppled dictator Moammar Gadhafi in Benghazi, Libya, Feb 17, 2013","captionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"AP Photo\/Mohammad Hannon, File","sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"callToActionText":null,"width":1600,"height":900},{"url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/90\/06\/20\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_a1ca3d5a-76fa-544e-a785-9774f4563b2b-4900620.jpg","altText":"A Libyan rebel holds a bullet belt at the Western gate of the front line town of Ghualish July 12, 2011.","caption":"A Libyan rebel holds a bullet belt at the Western gate of the front line town of Ghualish July 12, 2011.","captionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"MARCO LONGARI \/ AFP","sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"callToActionText":null,"width":3600,"height":2400}],"authors":{"journalists":[],"producers":[],"videoEditor":[]},"keywords":[{"id":172,"slug":"libya","urlSafeValue":"libya","title":"Libya","titleRaw":"Libya"},{"id":22368,"slug":"civil-war-in-libya","urlSafeValue":"civil-war-in-libya","title":"civil war in Libya","titleRaw":"civil war in Libya"},{"id":10495,"slug":"libyan-army","urlSafeValue":"libyan-army","title":"Libyan army","titleRaw":"Libyan army"}],"widgets":[],"related":[{"id":1705378},{"id":1720802}],"technicalTags":[],"externalPartners":{"youtubeId":"4Sjmqi9uS6M"},"hasExternalVideo":1,"hasInternalOrExternalVideo":1,"video":0,"videos":[],"liveStream":[{"startDate":0,"endDate":0}],"scribbleLiveId":0,"scribbleLiveRibbon":0,"isLiveCoverage":0,"sourceId":1,"sources":[],"externalSource":null,"additionalSources":"","additionalReporting":"Associated Press","freeField1":null,"freeField2":"","type":"normal","displayType":"default","program":{"id":"world","urlSafeValue":"world","title":"World News","online":1,"url":"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/programs\/world"},"season":"","episode":"","episodeId":"","vertical":"news","verticals":[{"id":1,"slug":"news","urlSafeValue":"news","title":"News"}],"primaryVertical":{"id":1,"slug":"news","urlSafeValue":"news","title":"News"},"themes":[{"id":"news","urlSafeValue":"news","title":"World","url":"\/news\/international"}],"primaryTheme":{"id":1,"urlSafeValue":"news","title":"World"},"advertising":0,"advertisingData":{"startDate":0,"endDate":0,"type":null,"slug":null,"title":null,"disclaimerLabelKey":null,"sponsor":null,"sponsorName":null,"sponsorUrl":null,"sponsorLogo":"","sponsorLogoReverse":"","isDfp":0},"geoLocation":{"lat":0,"lon":0},"location":1,"continent":{"id":3,"urlSafeValue":"africa","title":"Africa"},"country":{"id":172,"urlSafeValue":"libya","title":"Libya","url":"\/news\/africa\/libya"},"town":[],"contextualSignals":{"doubleVerify":{"ids":[],"slugs":[]}},"grapeshot":"'gs_politics','sm_politics','pos_equinor','pos_facebook','pos_pmi','gs_politics_misc','neg_mobkoi_castrol','castrol_negative_uk','neg_facebook_2021','neg_facebook','gt_negative','gv_military','neg_bucherer','neg_mobkoi_feb2021','gs_politics_american'","versions":[],"programDeliverable":{"slug":"sujet-web","format":"default"},"showOpinionDisclaimer":0,"allViews":0,"allViewsMeta":{"pointOfView":[],"survey":[],"tweetId":0,"tweet2NdId":0,"displayOverlay":0},"storyTranslationMethod":[],"localisation":[],"autoPublished":0,"autoLocalised":0,"isReviewed":0,"path":"\/2020\/08\/21\/ceasefire-announced-in-libya-after-nine-years-of-political-crisis","lastModified":1598027253},{"id":1168254,"cid":4844908,"versionId":1,"archive":0,"housenumber":"200729_WBSU_12713862","owner":"euronews","isMagazine":0,"isBreakingNews":0,"daletEventName":"UNHCR LIBYA YAXLEY INTERVIEW","daletPyramidId":null,"channels":[{"id":1},{"id":2},{"id":4},{"id":5},{"id":12}],"status":2,"title":"UN deplores deadly shooting of three Europe-bound migrants in Libya","titleSeo":null,"titleListing1":"UN deplores deadly shooting of three Europe-bound migrants in Libya","titleListing2":"\"We can no longer afford to ignore what's happening inside #Libya,\" @RefugeesMedia spokesperson @yaxle told Euronews.","leadin":"\"We can no longer afford to ignore what's happening inside Libya,\" UNHCR spokesperson Charlie Yaxley told Euronews.","summary":"\"We can no longer afford to ignore what's happening inside Libya,\" UNHCR spokesperson Charlie Yaxley told Euronews.","keySentence":"","url":"un-deplores-deadly-shooting-of-three-europe-bound-migrants-in-libya","canonical":"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/2020\/07\/29\/un-deplores-deadly-shooting-of-three-europe-bound-migrants-in-libya","masterCms":"v2","plainText":"The United Nations has condemned the deadly shooting of three Sudanese migrants in Libya.\u00a0 \n\nUN agencies reported on Tuesday that three migrants had been killed near the western coastal town of Khoms after they were intercepted by the coastguard in the Mediterranean Sea and returned to shore. \n\n\nThe three were among more than 70 Europe-bound migrants, who were returned to Khoms late on Monday, said Safa Msehli, a spokesperson for the International Organization for Migration (IOM). \n\nThe IOM said local authorities started shooting when the migrants attempted to escape from the disembarkation point. Two others were reportedly wounded and taken to local hospitals while survivors were moved to detention. \n\nTwo of the migrants died at the scene and a third died of their injuries while being transported to a hospital, according to the UN refugee agency, UNHCR . \n\nCharlie Yaxley, UNHCR spokesman, told Euronews the organisation had called for an urgent investigation. \n\n\"We can no longer afford to ignore what's happening inside Libya,\" said Yaxley. \n\n\"We need to take greater steps to ensure nobody is returned there after being rescued at sea and greater action is needed to support the human rights network in the country.\" \n\nEuronews has attempted to contact the UN-supported Libyan government and the coastguard for a statement. \n\nMost migrants in Libya attempt to make the perilous journey to European shores in ill-equipped and unsafe rubber boats. \n\nThe IOM said earlier this year its estimated death toll among migrants who tried to cross the Mediterranean passed the \"grim milestone'' of 20,000 since 2014. \n\nIn recent years, the European Union has partnered with the coast guard and other Libyan forces to stop the flow of migrants. \n\nRights groups say those efforts have left migrants at the mercy of brutal armed groups or confined in overcrowded detention centres that lack adequate food and water. \n\n\"This is not the first time people are subjected to this senseless violence and confirms yet again that no one should be returned to Libya,'' Msehli said. \n\nThe EU agreed earlier this year to end an anti-migrant smuggler operation that involved only surveillance aircraft and instead deploy military ships. \n\nIn 2019 a leaked EU report found that the bloc had spent more than 90 million euros funding and training the Libyan Coast Guard over two years. \n\nBut the report also suggested that the EU's ability to monitor the coast guard's activity was limited. \n\nIn an April debate in the Civil Liberties Committee , MEPs further insisted that Libya is not a \u201csafe country\u201d for disembarkation, adding to UN calls for the EU to stop channelling funds to the country. \n\n\"Any support that is given by other states to Libyan entities must be made conditional on an improvement in the human rights situation there and must be monitored,\" Charlie Yaxley told Euronews. \n\n\"If it does not, such support should be halted\". \n\nClick on the player above to watch Alex Morgan's report in #TheCube. \n\n","htmlText":"<p>The United Nations has condemned the deadly shooting of three Sudanese migrants in Libya.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>UN agencies reported on Tuesday that three migrants had been killed near the western coastal town of Khoms after they were intercepted by the coastguard in the Mediterranean Sea and returned to shore. <\/p>\n<p>The three were among more than 70 Europe-bound migrants, who were returned to Khoms late on Monday, said Safa Msehli, a spokesperson for the International Organization for Migration (IOM).<\/p>\n<p>The IOM said local authorities started shooting when the migrants attempted to escape from the disembarkation point. Two others were reportedly wounded and taken to local hospitals while survivors were moved to detention.<\/p>\n<p>Two of the migrants died at the scene and a third died of their injuries while being transported to a hospital, according to the <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.unhcr.org//news//press//2020//7//5f2021f24//unhcr-urges-investigation-following-deadly-incident-libya-disembarkation.html/" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\">UN refugee agency, UNHCR<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Charlie Yaxley, UNHCR spokesman, told Euronews the organisation had called for an urgent investigation.<\/p>\n<p>\"We can no longer afford to ignore what's happening inside Libya,\" said Yaxley.<\/p>\n<p>\"We need to take greater steps to ensure nobody is returned there after being rescued at sea and greater action is needed to support the human rights network in the country.\"<\/p>\n<p>Euronews has attempted to contact the UN-supported Libyan government and the coastguard for a statement.<\/p>\n<div class=\"c-widget-related\" data-stories-id=\"4711866,4712394,4712396,4829822\" data-event=\"widget_related\">\n <div class=\"c-widget-related__title\">\n <b class=\"c-widget-related__title__text\" lang=\"en\">Related<\/b>\n <\/div>\n <ul class=\"c-widget-related__list\">\n <li class=\"c-widget-related__item\"><a class=\"c-widget-related__article\" href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.euronews.com//2020//06//21//abused-in-libya-and-forced-into-prostitution-back-home-the-nightmare-of-trying-to-reach-eu/">Abused in Libya and forced into prostitution back home: the nightmare of trying to reach Europe<\/a><\/li><li class=\"c-widget-related__item\"><a class=\"c-widget-related__article\" href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.euronews.com//2020//07//22//iom-responds-to-euronews-investigation-into-the-eu-iom-joint-initiative/">IOM responds to Euronews' investigation into the EU-IOM Joint Initiative<\/a><\/li><li class=\"c-widget-related__item\"><a class=\"c-widget-related__article\" href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.euronews.com//2020//06//19//paying-for-migrants-to-go-back-home-how-the-eu-s-voluntary-return-scheme-is-failing-the-de/">Paying for migrants to go back home: how the EU's Voluntary Return scheme is failing the desperate<\/a><\/li><li class=\"c-widget-related__item\"><a class=\"c-widget-related__article\" href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.euronews.com//2020//06//20//eritrean-migrants-in-libya-claim-eu-backed-voluntary-returns-programme-isn-t-so-voluntary/">Eritrean migrants in Libya claim EU-backed voluntary returns programme isn't so voluntary<\/a><\/li>\n <\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n<p>Most migrants in Libya attempt to make the perilous journey to European shores in ill-equipped and unsafe rubber boats.<\/p>\n<p>The IOM said earlier this year its estimated death toll among migrants who tried to cross the Mediterranean passed the \"grim milestone'' of 20,000 since 2014.<\/p>\n<p>In recent years, the European Union has partnered with the coast guard and other Libyan forces to stop the flow of migrants.<\/p>\n<p>Rights groups say those efforts have left migrants at the mercy of brutal armed groups or confined in overcrowded detention centres that lack adequate food and water.<\/p>\n<p>\"This is not the first time people are subjected to this senseless violence and confirms yet again that no one should be returned to Libya,'' Msehli said.<\/p>\n<p>The EU agreed earlier this year to end an anti-migrant smuggler operation that involved only surveillance aircraft and instead deploy military ships.<\/p>\n<p>In 2019 <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.euronews.com//2019//11//03//eu-funds-libyan-coast-guard-but-has-limited-monitoring-capacity-leaked-report-suggests/">a leaked EU report<\/a> found that the bloc had spent more than 90 million euros funding and training the Libyan Coast Guard over two years.<\/p>\n<p>But the report also suggested that the EU's ability to monitor the coast guard's activity was limited.<\/p>\n<p>In <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.europarl.europa.eu//news//en//press-room//20200427IPR77915//stop-cooperation-with-and-funding-to-the-libyan-coastguard-meps-ask/" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\">an April debate in the Civil Liberties Committee<\/a>, MEPs further insisted that Libya is not a \u201csafe country\u201d for disembarkation, adding to UN calls for the EU to stop channelling funds to the country.<\/p>\n<p>\"Any support that is given by other states to Libyan entities must be made conditional on an improvement in the human rights situation there and must be monitored,\" Charlie Yaxley told Euronews.<\/p>\n<p>\"If it does not, such support should be halted\".<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Click on the player above to watch Alex Morgan's report in #TheCube.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","hashtag":null,"createdAt":1596014202,"updatedAt":1723539856,"publishedAt":1596021798,"firstPublishedAt":1596021801,"lastPublishedAt":1596021801,"expiresAt":0,"images":[{"url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/84\/49\/08\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_73322cbb-ebea-5bc9-ab7e-eefdf6dcb27c-4844908.jpg","altText":"In this file photo from 2019, rescued migrants rest near the city of Khoms, around 120 kilometres east of Tripoli.","caption":"In this file photo from 2019, rescued migrants rest near the city of Khoms, around 120 kilometres east of Tripoli.","captionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"AP Photo\/Hazem Ahmed","sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"callToActionText":null,"width":3300,"height":2475}],"authors":{"journalists":[],"producers":[],"videoEditor":[]},"keywords":[{"id":172,"slug":"libya","urlSafeValue":"libya","title":"Libya","titleRaw":"Libya"},{"id":21468,"slug":"unhcr-in-libya","urlSafeValue":"unhcr-in-libya","title":"UNHCR in Libya","titleRaw":"UNHCR in Libya"},{"id":23544,"slug":"iom","urlSafeValue":"iom","title":"IOM","titleRaw":"IOM"},{"id":10833,"slug":"unhcr","urlSafeValue":"unhcr","title":"UNHCR","titleRaw":"UNHCR"},{"id":8151,"slug":"refugees","urlSafeValue":"refugees","title":"Refugees","titleRaw":"Refugees"},{"id":13190,"slug":"migrants","urlSafeValue":"migrants","title":"Migrants","titleRaw":"Migrants"}],"widgets":[{"slug":"related","count":1}],"related":[{"id":1078492},{"id":1132430},{"id":1079010}],"technicalTags":[],"externalPartners":{"youtubeId":"ERUAV6LgMic"},"hasExternalVideo":1,"hasInternalOrExternalVideo":1,"video":1,"videos":[{"format":"mp4","quality":"md","type":"normal","url":"https:\/\/video.euronews.com\/mp4\/med\/EN\/WB\/SU\/20\/07\/29\/en\/200729_WBSU_12713862_12713865_160000_112624_en.mp4","editor":"","duration":160000,"filesizeBytes":15937601,"expiresAt":0}],"liveStream":[{"startDate":0,"endDate":0}],"scribbleLiveId":0,"scribbleLiveRibbon":0,"isLiveCoverage":0,"sourceId":1,"sources":[],"externalSource":"AP","additionalSources":"","additionalReporting":"Alexander Morgan","freeField1":null,"freeField2":"","type":"normal","displayType":"default","program":{"id":"world","urlSafeValue":"world","title":"World News","online":1,"url":"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/programs\/world"},"season":"","episode":"","episodeId":"","vertical":"news","verticals":[{"id":1,"slug":"news","urlSafeValue":"news","title":"News"}],"primaryVertical":{"id":1,"slug":"news","urlSafeValue":"news","title":"News"},"themes":[{"id":"news","urlSafeValue":"news","title":"World","url":"\/news\/international"}],"primaryTheme":{"id":1,"urlSafeValue":"news","title":"World"},"advertising":0,"advertisingData":{"startDate":0,"endDate":0,"type":null,"slug":null,"title":null,"disclaimerLabelKey":null,"sponsor":null,"sponsorName":null,"sponsorUrl":null,"sponsorLogo":"","sponsorLogoReverse":"","isDfp":0},"geoLocation":{"lat":0,"lon":0},"location":1,"continent":{"id":3,"urlSafeValue":"africa","title":"Africa"},"country":{"id":172,"urlSafeValue":"libya","title":"Libya","url":"\/news\/africa\/libya"},"town":[],"contextualSignals":{"doubleVerify":{"ids":[],"slugs":[]}},"grapeshot":"'neg_facebook_2021','castrol_negative_uk','neg_mobkoi_castrol','gv_death_injury','neg_facebook_q4','neg_nespresso','gt_negative','neg_facebook','neg_citi_campaign','neg_facebook_neg1','neg_saudiaramco','neg_bucherer','gs_society','gs_society_misc','gs_politics','gt_negative_fear','gs_politics_misc','gt_negative_dislike'","versions":[],"programDeliverable":{"slug":"sujet","format":"default"},"showOpinionDisclaimer":0,"allViews":0,"allViewsMeta":{"pointOfView":[],"survey":[],"tweetId":0,"tweet2NdId":0,"displayOverlay":0},"storyTranslationMethod":[],"localisation":[],"autoPublished":0,"autoLocalised":0,"isReviewed":0,"path":"\/2020\/07\/29\/un-deplores-deadly-shooting-of-three-europe-bound-migrants-in-libya","lastModified":1596021801},{"id":1157996,"cid":4826046,"versionId":1,"archive":0,"housenumber":"200718_WBWB_12612174","owner":"euronews","isMagazine":0,"isBreakingNews":0,"daletEventName":"web sanctions ","daletPyramidId":null,"channels":[{"id":1},{"id":2},{"id":4},{"id":5},{"id":12}],"status":2,"title":"Germany, France and Italy threatening sanctions against foreign interference in Libya","titleSeo":null,"titleListing1":"EU countries threaten sanctions against foreign interference in Libya","titleListing2":"Chancellor Angela Merkel, president Emmanuel Macron and prime minister Giuseppe Conte issued a joint declaration on Saturday as they met in Brussels to discuss the #coronavirus recovery package.","leadin":"Chancellor Angela Merkel, president Emmanuel Macron and prime minister Giuseppe Conte issued a joint declaration on Saturday as they met in Brussels to discuss the coronavirus recovery package.","summary":"Chancellor Angela Merkel, president Emmanuel Macron and prime minister Giuseppe Conte issued a joint declaration on Saturday as they met in Brussels to discuss the coronavirus recovery package.","keySentence":"","url":"germany-france-and-italy-threatening-sanctions-against-foreign-interference-in-libya","canonical":"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/2020\/07\/18\/germany-france-and-italy-threatening-sanctions-against-foreign-interference-in-libya","masterCms":"v2","plainText":"France, Germany and Italy said on Saturday they are prepared to impose sanctions on foreign powers violating the arms embargo in Libya. \n\n\"We call on all foreign actors to cease their interference and respect the arms embargo established by the United Nations Security Council\", German chancellor Angela Merkel, French president Emmanuel Macron and Italian prime minister Giuseppe Conte said in a joint statement . \n\nThey said they are \"ready to consider the possible use of sanctions if the violations of the embargo on the sea, on land and in the air continue\", as they met in Brussels to discuss the coronavirus recovery package . \n\nThe three leaders also called \"on all parties in Libya, as well as their foreign backers, for an immediate end to the fighting,\" expressing \"serious concerns\" at \"the increase in military tensions in the country\". \n\nNo specific country was mentioned in the release. \n\nThe issue had already been raised by the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres early in July, when he denounced \"unprecedented levels\" of foreign intervention in Libya, with \"the delivery of sophisticated equipment and the number of mercenaries involved in the fighting\". \n\nLibya has been torn by a bloody civil war since 2011, following the end of a 40-year-long dictatorship by Mu\u02bfammar Gheddafi and his killing. \n\nThe country is contended by a UN-backed government, based in Tripoli and led by Fayez al-Sarraj, and marshal Khalifa Haftar, who currently rules over the eastern part of the country and some of the south. \n\nTurkey supports\u00a0Fayez al-Sarraj's government, while Haftar has the backing of neighbouring Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Russia. \n\n","htmlText":"<p>France, Germany and Italy said on Saturday they are prepared to impose sanctions on foreign powers violating the arms embargo in Libya.<\/p>\n<p>\"We call on all foreign actors to cease their interference and respect the arms embargo established by the United Nations Security Council\", German chancellor Angela Merkel, French president Emmanuel Macron and Italian prime minister Giuseppe Conte said in a <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.elysee.fr//en//emmanuel-macron//2020//07//18//tensions-militaires-en-libye-la-france-lallemagne-et-litalie-demandent-le-cessez-le-feu-et-la-fin-de-lescalade-militaire/" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\">joint statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>They said they are \"ready to consider the possible use of sanctions if the violations of the embargo on the sea, on land and in the air continue\", as they met in Brussels to discuss the <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.euronews.com//2020//07//18//eu-leaders-aim-to-break-stalemate-on-trillion-euro-covid-19-recovery-package/">coronavirus recovery package<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The three leaders also called \"on all parties in Libya, as well as their foreign backers, for an immediate end to the fighting,\" expressing \"serious concerns\" at \"the increase in military tensions in the country\".<\/p>\n<p>No specific country was mentioned in the release.<\/p>\n<p>The issue had already been raised by the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres early in July, when he denounced \"unprecedented levels\" of foreign intervention in Libya, with \"the delivery of sophisticated equipment and the number of mercenaries involved in the fighting\".<\/p>\n<p>Libya has been torn by a bloody civil war since 2011, following the end of a 40-year-long dictatorship by Mu\u02bfammar Gheddafi and his killing.<\/p>\n<p>The country is contended by a UN-backed government, based in Tripoli and led by Fayez al-Sarraj, and marshal Khalifa Haftar, who currently rules over the eastern part of the country and some of the south.<\/p>\n<p>Turkey supports\u00a0Fayez al-Sarraj's government, while Haftar has the backing of neighbouring Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Russia.<\/p>\n<div class=\"c-widget-related\" data-stories-id=\"4634878\" data-event=\"widget_related\">\n <div class=\"c-widget-related__title\">\n <b class=\"c-widget-related__title__text\" lang=\"en\">Related<\/b>\n <\/div>\n <ul class=\"c-widget-related__list\">\n <li class=\"c-widget-related__item\"><a class=\"c-widget-related__article\" href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.euronews.com//2020//04//16//libya-caught-between-bombs-bullets-and-now-covid-19/">Libya: Caught between bombs, bullets and now COVID-19<\/a><\/li>\n <\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n","hashtag":null,"createdAt":1595101804,"updatedAt":1723539856,"publishedAt":1595105140,"firstPublishedAt":1595105144,"lastPublishedAt":1595105144,"expiresAt":0,"images":[{"url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/82\/60\/46\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_bc1f3381-c947-52eb-b31b-2f556ce80c66-4826046.jpg","altText":"From left, Angela Merkel, Ursula von der Leyen, Giuseppe Conte, Charles Michel and Emmanuel Macron in Brussels, July 18, 2020","caption":"From left, Angela Merkel, Ursula von der Leyen, Giuseppe Conte, Charles Michel and Emmanuel Macron in Brussels, July 18, 2020","captionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"AP Photo\/Francisco Seco, Pool","sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"callToActionText":null,"width":1600,"height":900}],"authors":{"journalists":[],"producers":[],"videoEditor":[]},"keywords":[{"id":172,"slug":"libya","urlSafeValue":"libya","title":"Libya","titleRaw":"Libya"},{"id":158,"slug":"italy","urlSafeValue":"italy","title":"Italy","titleRaw":"Italy"},{"id":125,"slug":"germany","urlSafeValue":"germany","title":"Germany","titleRaw":"Germany"},{"id":117,"slug":"france","urlSafeValue":"france","title":"France","titleRaw":"France"},{"id":22368,"slug":"civil-war-in-libya","urlSafeValue":"civil-war-in-libya","title":"civil war in Libya","titleRaw":"civil war in Libya"}],"widgets":[{"slug":"related","count":1}],"related":[{"id":1133982},{"id":1118828}],"technicalTags":[],"externalPartners":[],"hasExternalVideo":0,"hasInternalOrExternalVideo":0,"video":0,"videos":[],"liveStream":[{"startDate":0,"endDate":0}],"scribbleLiveId":0,"scribbleLiveRibbon":0,"isLiveCoverage":0,"sourceId":1,"sources":[],"externalSource":"AFP","additionalSources":"","additionalReporting":"Euronews","freeField1":null,"freeField2":"","type":"normal","displayType":"default","program":{"id":"world","urlSafeValue":"world","title":"World News","online":1,"url":"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/programs\/world"},"season":"","episode":"","episodeId":"","vertical":"news","verticals":[{"id":1,"slug":"news","urlSafeValue":"news","title":"News"}],"primaryVertical":{"id":1,"slug":"news","urlSafeValue":"news","title":"News"},"themes":[{"id":"news","urlSafeValue":"news","title":"World","url":"\/news\/international"}],"primaryTheme":{"id":1,"urlSafeValue":"news","title":"World"},"advertising":0,"advertisingData":{"startDate":0,"endDate":0,"type":null,"slug":null,"title":null,"disclaimerLabelKey":null,"sponsor":null,"sponsorName":null,"sponsorUrl":null,"sponsorLogo":"","sponsorLogoReverse":"","isDfp":0},"geoLocation":{"lat":0,"lon":0},"location":1,"continent":{"id":3,"urlSafeValue":"africa","title":"Africa"},"country":{"id":172,"urlSafeValue":"libya","title":"Libya","url":"\/news\/africa\/libya"},"town":[],"contextualSignals":{"doubleVerify":{"ids":[],"slugs":[]}},"grapeshot":"'gs_politics_misc','gs_politics','pos_equinor','pos_facebook','pos_pmi','sm_politics','neg_facebook_2021','neg_facebook','neg_nespresso','neg_facebook_q4','neg_mobkoi_feb2021','neg_facebook_neg1','gv_military','gs_covid19','gv_arms'","versions":[],"programDeliverable":{"slug":"sujet-web","format":"default"},"showOpinionDisclaimer":0,"allViews":0,"allViewsMeta":{"pointOfView":[],"survey":[],"tweetId":0,"tweet2NdId":0,"displayOverlay":0},"storyTranslationMethod":[],"localisation":[],"autoPublished":0,"autoLocalised":0,"isReviewed":0,"path":"\/2020\/07\/18\/germany-france-and-italy-threatening-sanctions-against-foreign-interference-in-libya","lastModified":1595105144},{"id":1130196,"cid":4766226,"versionId":1,"archive":0,"housenumber":"200623_NWSU_12352909","owner":"euronews","isMagazine":0,"isBreakingNews":0,"daletEventName":"MACRON - TURKEY + NATO","daletPyramidId":null,"channels":[{"id":1},{"id":2},{"id":4},{"id":5},{"id":10},{"id":12}],"status":2,"title":"Emmanuel Macron: 'Turkey is playing a dangerous game in Libya'","titleSeo":null,"titleListing1":"Turkey is playing a dangerous game in Libya, says France's Macron","titleListing2":"France's president, Emmanuel Macron, is unhappy with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan over Libya. ","leadin":"The French president's remarks on Turkey's military intervention in the Libyan civil war follows an encounter between the two NATO allies' ships in the Mediterranean","summary":"The French president's remarks on Turkey's military intervention in the Libyan civil war follows an encounter between the two NATO allies' ships in the Mediterranean","keySentence":"","url":"emmanuel-macron-turkey-is-playing-a-dangerous-game-in-libya","canonical":"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/2020\/06\/23\/emmanuel-macron-turkey-is-playing-a-dangerous-game-in-libya","masterCms":"v2","plainText":"Turkey is playing \"a dangerous game\" with its military intervention in Libya that will not be tolerated by France, President Emmanuel Macron has warned. \n\nAir support and weapons from Turkey over recent months have helped change the tide in Libya's civil war. \n\nThe UN-recognised government pushed back a year-long siege on the capital Tripoli at the beginning of June and has secured much of the west of the country against Khalifa Haftar's Libyan National Army (LNA). \n\nTurkey's military support \u2014 and the allied fighters it has transported from Syria \u2014 contributed to the Tripoli government's gains over the LNA, which is backed by Egypt, Russia and the United Arab Emirates. \n\nBut Macron said Turkey's actions went against commitments it made during Berlin peace talks in January. \n\n\"I have already had the opportunity to say very clearly to President Erdogan I consider today that Turkey is playing a dangerous game in Libya and is in breach of all commitments it took during the Berlin conference,\" he said. \n\nFrance has previously given military support to Haftar to fight Islamist militants and denies supporting his side in the civil war. \n\nBut Macron has not criticised countries allied to the LNA, even though he has often rebuked Turkey. \n\nLast week France accused Turkey of harassing a French ship off the coast of Libya while it carried out checks on a Turkish ship that it suspected of breaking a UN arms embargo to Libya. \n\nA French defence ministry account of the encounter \u2014 which occurred several weeks ago \u2014 said that Turkish frigates carried out radar targeting on a French ship, suggesting a missile strike was imminent. \n\nTurkey denies this happened. \n\nBut Macron said on Monday that the incident between two NATO allies was an indication of the military alliance's weaknesses. \n\n\"When I see what is being done last week under NATO's command off the coast of Libya, I consider it unacceptable,\" he said. \n\n\"And I'll take you back to my statement last year on NATO being brain dead. I think this is the best example of it.\" \n\nThe French president first made the \"brain dead\" remark last November, criticising what he considers the military alliance's failure to treat seriously the external threats to southern Europe and the Baltic states. \n\n","htmlText":"<p>Turkey is playing \"a dangerous game\" with its military intervention in Libya that will not be tolerated by France, President Emmanuel Macron has warned.<\/p>\n<p>Air support and weapons from Turkey over recent months have helped change the tide in Libya's civil war.<\/p>\n<p>The UN-recognised government pushed back a year-long siege on the capital Tripoli at the beginning of June and has secured much of the west of the country against Khalifa Haftar's Libyan National Army (LNA).<\/p>\n<p>Turkey's military support \u2014 and the allied fighters it has transported from Syria \u2014 contributed to the Tripoli government's gains over the LNA, which is backed by Egypt, Russia and the United Arab Emirates.<\/p>\n<p>But Macron said Turkey's actions went against commitments it made during Berlin peace talks in January.<\/p>\n<p>\"I have already had the opportunity to say very clearly to President Erdogan I consider today that Turkey is playing a dangerous game in Libya and is in breach of all commitments it took during the Berlin conference,\" he said.<\/p>\n<p>France has previously given military support to Haftar to fight Islamist militants and denies supporting his side in the civil war.<\/p>\n<p>But Macron has not criticised countries allied to the LNA, even though he has often rebuked Turkey.<\/p>\n<p>Last week France accused Turkey of harassing a French ship off the coast of Libya while it carried out checks on a Turkish ship that it suspected of breaking a UN arms embargo to Libya.<\/p>\n<p>A French defence ministry account of the encounter \u2014 which occurred several weeks ago \u2014 said that Turkish frigates carried out radar targeting on a French ship, suggesting a missile strike was imminent.<\/p>\n<p>Turkey denies this happened.<\/p>\n<p>But Macron said on Monday that the incident between two NATO allies was an indication of the military alliance's weaknesses.<\/p>\n<p>\"When I see what is being done last week under NATO's command off the coast of Libya, I consider it unacceptable,\" he said.<\/p>\n<p>\"And I'll take you back to my statement last year on NATO being brain dead. I think this is the best example of it.\"<\/p>\n<p>The French president first made the \"brain dead\" remark last November, criticising what he considers the military alliance's failure to treat seriously the external threats to southern Europe and the Baltic states.<\/p>\n","hashtag":null,"createdAt":1592851811,"updatedAt":1723539856,"publishedAt":1592912474,"firstPublishedAt":1592912476,"lastPublishedAt":1592912476,"expiresAt":0,"images":[{"url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/76\/62\/42\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_44ba5621-2850-5774-8fc9-18d187f90df0-4766242.jpg","altText":null,"caption":null,"captionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"\/Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved","sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"callToActionText":null,"width":5000,"height":3333}],"authors":{"journalists":[{"id":1173,"urlSafeValue":"daventry","title":"Michael Daventry","twitter":"@MichaelDaventry"}],"producers":[],"videoEditor":[]},"keywords":[{"id":117,"slug":"france","urlSafeValue":"france","title":"France","titleRaw":"France"},{"id":284,"slug":"turkey","urlSafeValue":"turkey","title":"Turkiye (Turkey)","titleRaw":"Turkiye (Turkey)"},{"id":12357,"slug":"emmanuel-macron","urlSafeValue":"emmanuel-macron","title":"Emmanuel Macron","titleRaw":"Emmanuel Macron"},{"id":172,"slug":"libya","urlSafeValue":"libya","title":"Libya","titleRaw":"Libya"}],"widgets":[],"related":[{"id":1306920}],"technicalTags":[],"externalPartners":{"youtubeId":"p_PDWW-AFxc"},"hasExternalVideo":1,"hasInternalOrExternalVideo":1,"video":1,"videos":[{"format":"mp4","quality":"md","type":"normal","url":"https:\/\/video.euronews.com\/mp4\/med\/EN\/NW\/SU\/20\/06\/23\/en\/200623_NWSU_12352909_12352955_25080_124132_en.mp4","editor":"","duration":25080,"filesizeBytes":2518861,"expiresAt":0}],"liveStream":[{"startDate":0,"endDate":0}],"scribbleLiveId":0,"scribbleLiveRibbon":0,"isLiveCoverage":0,"sourceId":1,"sources":[],"externalSource":null,"additionalSources":null,"additionalReporting":null,"freeField1":null,"freeField2":"","type":"normal","displayType":"default","program":{"id":"world","urlSafeValue":"world","title":"World News","online":1,"url":"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/programs\/world"},"season":"","episode":"","episodeId":"","vertical":"news","verticals":[{"id":1,"slug":"news","urlSafeValue":"news","title":"News"}],"primaryVertical":{"id":1,"slug":"news","urlSafeValue":"news","title":"News"},"themes":[{"id":"news","urlSafeValue":"news","title":"World","url":"\/news\/international"}],"primaryTheme":{"id":1,"urlSafeValue":"news","title":"World"},"advertising":0,"advertisingData":{"startDate":0,"endDate":0,"type":null,"slug":null,"title":null,"disclaimerLabelKey":null,"sponsor":null,"sponsorName":null,"sponsorUrl":null,"sponsorLogo":"","sponsorLogoReverse":"","isDfp":0},"geoLocation":{"lat":0,"lon":0},"location":1,"continent":{"id":3,"urlSafeValue":"africa","title":"Africa"},"country":{"id":172,"urlSafeValue":"libya","title":"Libya","url":"\/news\/africa\/libya"},"town":[],"contextualSignals":{"doubleVerify":{"ids":[],"slugs":[]}},"grapeshot":"'neg_facebook_2021','neg_nespresso','neg_facebook','gv_military','neg_facebook_q4','neg_saudiaramco','gt_negative','castrol_negative_uk','neg_mobkoi_fb-weareonit_fs_28feb2019','neg_mobkoi_castrol','gt_negative_fear','gs_politics','pos_equinor','pos_facebook','gs_politics_misc','gv_death_injury'","versions":[],"programDeliverable":{"slug":"sujet","format":"default"},"showOpinionDisclaimer":0,"allViews":0,"allViewsMeta":{"pointOfView":[],"survey":[],"tweetId":0,"tweet2NdId":0,"displayOverlay":0},"storyTranslationMethod":[],"localisation":[],"autoPublished":0,"autoLocalised":0,"isReviewed":0,"path":"\/2020\/06\/23\/emmanuel-macron-turkey-is-playing-a-dangerous-game-in-libya","lastModified":1592912476},{"id":1118828,"cid":4733710,"versionId":1,"archive":0,"housenumber":"200608_NWSU_12211764","owner":"euronews","isMagazine":0,"isBreakingNews":0,"daletEventName":"Web analyst on Libya ceasefire proposal","daletPyramidId":null,"channels":[{"id":1},{"id":2},{"id":4},{"id":5},{"id":12}],"status":2,"title":"Haftar backs ceasefire as rebels lose ground in Libya","titleSeo":null,"titleListing1":"Haftar backs ceasefire as rebels lose ground in Libya","titleListing2":"A new ceasefire proposal reflects a dramatic shift in the balance of power in war-torn Libya. ","leadin":"A new ceasefire proposal reflects a dramatic shift in the balance of power in war-torn Libya.","summary":"A new ceasefire proposal reflects a dramatic shift in the balance of power in war-torn Libya.","keySentence":"","url":"haftar-backs-ceasefire-as-rebels-lose-ground-in-libya","canonical":"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/2020\/06\/08\/haftar-backs-ceasefire-as-rebels-lose-ground-in-libya","masterCms":"v2","plainText":"Libyan forces allied with the government rejected calls for a ceasefire put forward by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi over the weekend. \n\nThe proposal also backed by rebel Libyan commander General Khalifa Haftar includes an immediate ceasefire and aims at paving the way for elections. \n\nIt comes on the heels of major losses by Haftar's eastern forces at the hands of the UN-backed Government of National Accord, based in Tripoli. \n\nThe proposed truce underscores the shifting balance of power on the ground, says Tim Eaton, senior research fellow at the Chatham House think tank in London. \n\n\"Effectively, this call for a ceasefire is to freeze the situation and to prevent further advances from Western-based forces,\" he told Euronews in a live TV interview. \n\nFor the past year, Haftar has been on an offensive to capture Tripoli from forces loyal to the UN-supported government of national accord (GNA). \n\nBut the GNA, backed by Turkey, gained the upper hand last week after retaking the capital's airport, all main entrance and exit points to the city and a string of key towns nearby. \n\nEgypt's proposal, announced by President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi on Saturday, envisaged a cease-fire starting Monday. \n\nThe militias fighting to defend Tripoli swiftly rejected it, instead pushing eastward toward the coastal city of Sirte, a former Islamic State stronghold captured by Haftar\u2019s forces in January. \n\n\"Clearly, they (the GNA) see the opportunity to have further advances and push eastern-based forces back further,\" said Eaton. \n\n\"We're witnessing a real shift in the power balance here, both locally between these actors and internationally between those powers who are supporting the rival factions,\" he added. \n\nHaftar\u2019s east-based forces are backed by the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, as well as France and Russia. The Tripoli-based government receives aid from Qatar, Italy and Turkey, which stepped up its military support in recent months, helping shift the tide of the conflict. \n\nThe UN support mission in Libya said the fighting over Tripoli \"has proven, beyond any doubt, that any war among Libyans is a losing war.\" \n\nIt urged both sides to \"engage swiftly and constructively\" in UN-brokered talks aimed at reaching a lasting cease-fire agreement, and to comply with an international arms embargo on Libya. \n\nLibya has been in turmoil since 2011, when a civil war toppled longtime dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was later killed. \n\n","htmlText":"<p>Libyan forces allied with the government rejected calls for a ceasefire put forward by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi over the weekend.<\/p>\n<p>The proposal also backed by rebel Libyan commander General Khalifa Haftar includes an immediate ceasefire and aims at paving the way for elections. <\/p>\n<p>It comes on the heels of major losses by Haftar's eastern forces at the hands of the UN-backed Government of National Accord, based in Tripoli.<\/p>\n<p>The proposed truce underscores the shifting balance of power on the ground, says Tim Eaton, senior research fellow at the Chatham House think tank in London.<\/p>\n<p>\"Effectively, this call for a ceasefire is to freeze the situation and to prevent further advances from Western-based forces,\" he told Euronews in a live TV interview.<\/p>\n<p>For the past year, Haftar has been on an offensive to capture Tripoli from forces loyal to the UN-supported government of national accord (GNA).<\/p>\n<p>But the GNA, backed by Turkey, gained the upper hand last week after retaking the capital's airport, all main entrance and exit points to the city and a string of key towns nearby.<\/p>\n<p>Egypt's proposal, announced by President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi on Saturday, envisaged a cease-fire starting Monday.<\/p>\n<p>The militias fighting to defend Tripoli swiftly rejected it, instead pushing eastward toward the coastal city of Sirte, a former Islamic State stronghold captured by Haftar\u2019s forces in January.<\/p>\n<p>\"Clearly, they (the GNA) see the opportunity to have further advances and push eastern-based forces back further,\" said Eaton.<\/p>\n<p>\"We're witnessing a real shift in the power balance here, both locally between these actors and internationally between those powers who are supporting the rival factions,\" he added.<\/p>\n<p>Haftar\u2019s east-based forces are backed by the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, as well as France and Russia. The Tripoli-based government receives aid from Qatar, Italy and Turkey, which stepped up its military support in recent months, helping shift the tide of the conflict.<\/p>\n<p>The UN support mission in Libya said the fighting over Tripoli \"has proven, beyond any doubt, that any war among Libyans is a losing war.\"<\/p>\n<p>It urged both sides to \"engage swiftly and constructively\" in UN-brokered talks aimed at reaching a lasting cease-fire agreement, and to comply with an international arms embargo on Libya.<\/p>\n<p>Libya has been in turmoil since 2011, when a civil war toppled longtime dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was later killed.<\/p>\n","hashtag":null,"createdAt":1591621354,"updatedAt":1723539856,"publishedAt":1591624726,"firstPublishedAt":1591624729,"lastPublishedAt":1591624729,"expiresAt":0,"images":[{"url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/73\/37\/10\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_d462a650-905d-50aa-af1c-d5f0c32b3492-4733710.jpg","altText":"Residents of Tripoli celebrate the recent military setbacks of Khalifa Haftar's forces","caption":"Residents of Tripoli celebrate the recent military setbacks of Khalifa Haftar's forces","captionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"AFP","sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"callToActionText":null,"width":1920,"height":1080}],"authors":{"journalists":[],"producers":[],"videoEditor":[]},"keywords":[{"id":22368,"slug":"civil-war-in-libya","urlSafeValue":"civil-war-in-libya","title":"civil war in Libya","titleRaw":"civil war in Libya"},{"id":14820,"slug":"khalifa-haftar","urlSafeValue":"khalifa-haftar","title":"Khalifa Haftar","titleRaw":"Khalifa Haftar"},{"id":22270,"slug":"libyan-national-accord-gna-","urlSafeValue":"libyan-national-accord-gna-","title":"Libyan National Accord (GNA)","titleRaw":"Libyan National Accord (GNA)"},{"id":7898,"slug":"armed-conflicts","urlSafeValue":"armed-conflicts","title":"Armed conflicts","titleRaw":"Armed conflicts"},{"id":5110,"slug":"ceasefire","urlSafeValue":"ceasefire","title":"Ceasefire","titleRaw":"Ceasefire"},{"id":292,"slug":"united-nations","urlSafeValue":"united-nations","title":"United Nations","titleRaw":"United 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News","online":1,"url":"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/programs\/world"},"season":"","episode":"","episodeId":"","vertical":"news","verticals":[{"id":1,"slug":"news","urlSafeValue":"news","title":"News"}],"primaryVertical":{"id":1,"slug":"news","urlSafeValue":"news","title":"News"},"themes":[{"id":"news","urlSafeValue":"news","title":"World","url":"\/news\/international"}],"primaryTheme":{"id":1,"urlSafeValue":"news","title":"World"},"advertising":0,"advertisingData":{"startDate":0,"endDate":0,"type":null,"slug":null,"title":null,"disclaimerLabelKey":null,"sponsor":null,"sponsorName":null,"sponsorUrl":null,"sponsorLogo":"","sponsorLogoReverse":"","isDfp":0},"geoLocation":{"lat":0,"lon":0},"location":1,"continent":{"id":3,"urlSafeValue":"africa","title":"Africa"},"country":{"id":172,"urlSafeValue":"libya","title":"Libya","url":"\/news\/africa\/libya"},"town":{"id":4252,"urlSafeValue":"tripoli","title":"Tripoli"},"contextualSignals":{"doubleVerify":{"ids":[],"slugs":[]}},"grapeshot":"'neg_facebook_2021','neg_nespresso','gv_military','neg_facebook_q4','neg_mobkoi_castrol','castrol_negative_uk','neg_facebook','neg_facebook_neg1','gt_negative','gs_politics','neg_saudiaramco','pos_equinor','pos_facebook','gs_politics_misc','gs_entertain'","versions":[],"programDeliverable":{"slug":"sujet","format":"default"},"showOpinionDisclaimer":0,"allViews":0,"allViewsMeta":{"pointOfView":[],"survey":[],"tweetId":0,"tweet2NdId":0,"displayOverlay":0},"storyTranslationMethod":[],"localisation":[],"autoPublished":0,"autoLocalised":0,"isReviewed":0,"path":"\/2020\/06\/08\/haftar-backs-ceasefire-as-rebels-lose-ground-in-libya","lastModified":1591624729},{"id":1104582,"cid":4693496,"versionId":1,"archive":0,"housenumber":"200520_WBSU_12021105","owner":"euronews","isMagazine":0,"isBreakingNews":0,"daletEventName":"Working from home in Tripoli","daletPyramidId":null,"channels":[{"id":1},{"id":2},{"id":4},{"id":5},{"id":12}],"status":2,"title":"If you think working from home in Europe is tough, try Libya","titleSeo":null,"titleListing1":"","titleListing2":"\"I am working from home right now with bombs falling in the surrounding area,\" said Moayed Zoghdani, who is an aid worker for an international agency.","leadin":"\"I am working from home right now with bombs falling in the surrounding area,\" said Moayed Zoghdani, who is an aid worker for an international agency.","summary":"\"I am working from home right now with bombs falling in the surrounding area,\" said Moayed Zoghdani, who is an aid worker for an international agency.","keySentence":"","url":"if-you-think-working-from-home-in-europe-is-tough-try-libya","canonical":"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/2020\/05\/21\/if-you-think-working-from-home-in-europe-is-tough-try-libya","masterCms":"v2","plainText":"Many people across the world are rising to the challenges of working from home, but for those living in Libya, the daily trials of coronavirus lockdown range not from a lack of electricity to intermittent shelling due to the ongoing conflict in the embattled nation. \n\n\"I am working from home right now with [bombs] falling in the surrounding area,\" said Moayed Zoghdani, who is an aid worker for an international agency. \n\n\"I am also suffering from internet interruptions which makes me unable to submit my work in time. And I started suffering from an upset stomach for the first time in my life. My spirit is very low.\" \n\nZoghdani recently recorded a video from his apartment in which you can hear artillery shots right outside his window: \n\nThe conflict in Libya has been going on since 2011 and the capital, Tripoli, has been under siege for at least a year. Libya has yet to see a de-escalation in the fighting despite UN calls for a ceasefire. \n\nThe UN-recognised government based in the capital has imposed a lockdown in the controlled areas of the country since mid-April due to the coronavirus pandemic. \n\nThere is a curfew, which has been extended for another 10 days, from 6pm to 6am. People can go out shopping in the morning but shops close at noon. Non-essential stores are closed. \n\nThere have been 69 reported cases of coronavirus in Libya and at least three deaths. \n\nPower and patience \n\nWe spoke with several humanitarian and development workers who agreed that working from home amid conflict and power cuts posed numerous challenges. \n\nFuel has become more expensive so the power generators can only be used when necessary for some workers, privileged to have an electricity and water generator at home. \n\nMany workers spoke about the patience it takes to work from home in such circumstances. \n\nNurhan Sabkha, who also works in humanitarian cooperation, says that it can be \"frustrating because I also have to look after my four-year-old daughter while working full-time. \n\n\"I am an internally displaced person, living near the war zone. The amount of patience, concentration and strength required of me during this time is unbearable most days\". \n\nA colleague, Khadija Sadera, believes that working remotely \"teaches you how to deal with the pressure and stress caused by the current situation, the blackouts and the weak Internet connection\". \n\nOnline learning undone by conflict \n\nElementary school teacher Hanan Rawag created a Facebook group to communicate with pupils and their families, but \"it doesn't work anymore\" because the students are \"stressed and distracted by conflict and power outages\". \n\nOne parent told Rawag that her child \"can't understand and needs the class interactions with the teacher. \n\n\"I am still doing my best and I made it a public [group] to benefit all, as [these students] are the future of Libya,\" Rawag said. \n\nWaad Treki, also a teacher, has to re-record classes because the videos are \"ruined by thunders of shelling and artillery in the area.\" \n\n\"Working from home made me realise that seeing my students everyday, interacting with colleagues, being exhausted and what I thought was a depressing routine were all anti-depressing,\" Treki said. \n\n\"My work was a source of distraction that kept me from thinking of war and made me achieve and carry on.\" \n\n","htmlText":"<p>Many people across the world are rising to the challenges of working from home, but for those living in Libya, the daily trials of coronavirus lockdown range not from a lack of electricity to intermittent shelling due to the ongoing conflict in the embattled nation.<\/p>\n<p>\"I am working from home right now with [bombs] falling in the surrounding area,\" said Moayed Zoghdani, who is an aid worker for an international agency.<\/p>\n<p>\"I am also suffering from internet interruptions which makes me unable to submit my work in time. And I started suffering from an upset stomach for the first time in my life. My spirit is very low.\"<\/p>\n<p>Zoghdani recently recorded a video from his apartment in which you can hear artillery shots right outside his window:<\/p>\n<div data-oembed-url=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/video\/oembed.json\/?url=https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Moayadzaghdani\/videos\/10216835108414358\/?__tn__=%2CO-R\" class=\"widget widget--type-facebook widget--size-medium widget--align-center\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <figure class=\"widget__figure\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio--auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <div id=\"fb-root\"><\/div> <script async=\"1\" defer=\"1\" crossorigin=\"anonymous\" src=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////connect.facebook.net//fr_FR//sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v7.0\"><\/script><div class=\"fb-video\" data-href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Moayadzaghdani\/videos\/10216835108414358\/?__tn__=,O-R\"><blockquote cite=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Moayadzaghdani\/videos\/10216835108414358\/\" class=\"fb-xfbml-parse-ignore\"><a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.facebook.com//Moayadzaghdani//videos//10216835108414358///" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\"><\/a><p>\u0645\u0633\u0627\u0621 \u0627\u0644\u0635\u0648\u0627\u0631\u064a\u062e \ud83d\udc94 #\u0644\u064a\u0628\u064a\u0627 #\u0637\u0631\u0627\u0628\u0644\u0633<\/p>Publi\u00e9e par <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.facebook.com//Moayadzaghdani/" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Moayad Zaghdani<\/a> sur Lundi 13 avril 2020<\/blockquote><\/div> \n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The conflict in Libya has been going on since 2011 and the capital, Tripoli, has been under siege for at least a year. Libya has yet to see a de-escalation in the fighting despite UN calls for a ceasefire.<\/p>\n<p>The UN-recognised government based in the capital has imposed a lockdown in the controlled areas of the country since mid-April due to the coronavirus pandemic.<\/p>\n<p>There is a curfew, which has been extended for another 10 days, from 6pm to 6am. People can go out shopping in the morning but shops close at noon. Non-essential stores are closed.<\/p>\n<p>There have been 69 reported cases of coronavirus in Libya and at least three deaths.<\/p>\n<h2>Power and patience<\/h2>\n<p>We spoke with several humanitarian and development workers who agreed that working from home amid conflict and power cuts posed numerous challenges.<\/p>\n<p>Fuel has become more expensive so the power generators can only be used when necessary for some workers, privileged to have an electricity and water generator at home.<\/p>\n<p>Many workers spoke about the patience it takes to work from home in such circumstances.<\/p>\n<p>Nurhan Sabkha, who also works in humanitarian cooperation, says that it can be \"frustrating because I also have to look after my four-year-old daughter while working full-time.<\/p>\n<p>\"I am an internally displaced person, living near the war zone. The amount of patience, concentration and strength required of me during this time is unbearable most days\".<\/p>\n<p>A colleague, Khadija Sadera, believes that working remotely \"teaches you how to deal with the pressure and stress caused by the current situation, the blackouts and the weak Internet connection\".<\/p>\n<h2>Online learning undone by conflict<\/h2>\n<p>Elementary school teacher Hanan Rawag created a Facebook group to communicate with pupils and their families, but \"it doesn't work anymore\" because the students are \"stressed and distracted by conflict and power outages\".<\/p>\n<p>One parent told Rawag that her child \"can't understand and needs the class interactions with the teacher.<\/p>\n<p>\"I am still doing my best and I made it a public [group] to benefit all, as [these students] are the future of Libya,\" Rawag said.<\/p>\n<p>Waad Treki, also a teacher, has to re-record classes because the videos are \"ruined by thunders of shelling and artillery in the area.\"<\/p>\n<p>\"Working from home made me realise that seeing my students everyday, interacting with colleagues, being exhausted and what I thought was a depressing routine were all anti-depressing,\" Treki said.<\/p>\n<p>\"My work was a source of distraction that kept me from thinking of war and made me achieve and carry on.\"<\/p>\n","hashtag":null,"createdAt":1589988844,"updatedAt":1723539856,"publishedAt":1590056675,"firstPublishedAt":1590056626,"lastPublishedAt":1590056734,"expiresAt":0,"images":[{"url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/69\/34\/96\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_5caae538-a49a-5033-a205-dfc9ca677df5-4693496.jpg","altText":"Smoke rises in Tripoli after a military base in the Abusleim area is hit.","caption":"Smoke rises in Tripoli after a military base in the Abusleim area is hit.","captionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"Courtesy of Moayed Zoghdani","sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"callToActionText":null,"width":800,"height":450},{"url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/69\/34\/96\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_5979e3b7-2860-5cce-b54d-955b0c04022e-4693496.jpg","altText":"The workstation of Amera Markous: on the ground the two grey squares are water wells to have it when water is cut","caption":"The workstation of Amera Markous: on the ground the two grey squares are water wells to have it when water is cut","captionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"Courtesy of Markous","sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"callToActionText":null,"width":1080,"height":810}],"authors":{"journalists":[{"id":979,"urlSafeValue":"montalto-monella","title":"Lillo Montalto Monella","twitter":"@lillomontalto"}],"producers":[],"videoEditor":[]},"keywords":[{"id":172,"slug":"libya","urlSafeValue":"libya","title":"Libya","titleRaw":"Libya"},{"id":22368,"slug":"civil-war-in-libya","urlSafeValue":"civil-war-in-libya","title":"civil war in Libya","titleRaw":"civil war in Libya"},{"id":22526,"slug":"coronavirus","urlSafeValue":"coronavirus","title":"Coronavirus","titleRaw":"Coronavirus"}],"widgets":[{"slug":"facebook","count":1}],"related":[{"id":1078492},{"id":1079010}],"technicalTags":[],"externalPartners":[],"hasExternalVideo":0,"hasInternalOrExternalVideo":0,"video":0,"videos":[],"liveStream":[{"startDate":0,"endDate":0}],"scribbleLiveId":0,"scribbleLiveRibbon":0,"isLiveCoverage":0,"sourceId":1,"sources":[],"externalSource":null,"additionalSources":"","additionalReporting":"Amera Markous","freeField1":null,"freeField2":"","type":"normal","displayType":"default","program":{"id":"world","urlSafeValue":"world","title":"World News","online":1,"url":"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/programs\/world"},"season":"","episode":"","episodeId":"","vertical":"news","verticals":[{"id":1,"slug":"news","urlSafeValue":"news","title":"News"}],"primaryVertical":{"id":1,"slug":"news","urlSafeValue":"news","title":"News"},"themes":[{"id":"news","urlSafeValue":"news","title":"World","url":"\/news\/international"}],"primaryTheme":{"id":1,"urlSafeValue":"news","title":"World"},"advertising":0,"advertisingData":{"startDate":0,"endDate":0,"type":null,"slug":null,"title":null,"disclaimerLabelKey":null,"sponsor":null,"sponsorName":null,"sponsorUrl":null,"sponsorLogo":"","sponsorLogoReverse":"","isDfp":0},"geoLocation":{"lat":0,"lon":0},"location":1,"continent":{"id":3,"urlSafeValue":"africa","title":"Africa"},"country":{"id":172,"urlSafeValue":"libya","title":"Libya","url":"\/news\/africa\/libya"},"town":[],"contextualSignals":{"doubleVerify":{"ids":[],"slugs":[]}},"grapeshot":"'neg_facebook_2021','gt_negative','gs_education','gs_education_misc','neg_mobkoi_castrol','pos_equinor','pos_facebook','gs_health','neg_facebook','back_to_school_2021','back_to_school_sep','castrol_negative_uk','wfh_jan_2020','gs_business','neg_facebook_neg1','gt_negative_anger','gs_covid19','gt_negative_sadness','gv_military','gs_business_energy'","versions":[],"programDeliverable":{"slug":"sujet","format":"default"},"showOpinionDisclaimer":0,"allViews":0,"allViewsMeta":{"pointOfView":[],"survey":[],"tweetId":0,"tweet2NdId":0,"displayOverlay":0},"storyTranslationMethod":[],"localisation":[],"autoPublished":0,"autoLocalised":0,"isReviewed":0,"path":"\/2020\/05\/21\/if-you-think-working-from-home-in-europe-is-tough-try-libya","lastModified":1590056734},{"id":1088018,"cid":4656794,"versionId":2,"archive":0,"housenumber":"200508_IPSU_11784586","owner":"euronews","isMagazine":1,"isBreakingNews":0,"daletEventName":"IP-18-ENCOMPASSING ART - ENGLISH","daletPyramidId":null,"channels":[{"id":1},{"id":2},{"id":4},{"id":5},{"id":12}],"status":2,"title":"Outspoken Libyan princess Alia Al Senussi supports \u2018New Saudi\u2019 art scene","titleSeo":null,"titleListing1":null,"titleListing2":"Outspoken Libyan princess Alia Al Senussi supports \u2018New Saudi\u2019 art scene","leadin":"As a Libyan princess raised in exile, Alia Al Senussi, has never let her family\u2019s ousting from the throne and their homeland in the 1960s, define her.","summary":"As a Libyan princess raised in exile, Alia Al Senussi, has never let her family\u2019s ousting from the throne and their homeland in the 1960s, define her.","keySentence":"","url":"outspoken-libyan-princess-alia-al-senussi-supports-new-saudi-art-scene","canonical":"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/2020\/05\/08\/outspoken-libyan-princess-alia-al-senussi-supports-new-saudi-art-scene","masterCms":"v2","plainText":"As a Libyan princess raised in exile, Alia Al Senussi, has never let her family\u2019s ousting from the throne and their homeland in the 1960s, define her. \n\nHer father, Prince Idris al-Senussi was just twelve years old when the monarchy was overthrown by Muammar Gaddafi. \n\nBorn in the United States to an American mother, Princess Alia began returning to Libya in 2011 and was inspired by the people she encountered on the ground. \n\n\u201cThere was a sense of hope, a sense of positivity,\u201d she says. \u201cAlso, those kind of mixed emotions that come with being half-Libyan half-American, and to be welcomed as such. To have a variety of really incredible anecdotes, and interactions with so many young women there, was incredible.\u201d \n\nThe path to art \n\nAl Senussi is an academic high-flyer who gained a doctorate from London\u2019s prestigious School of Oriental Arts & African Studies. \n\nWith Saudi Arabia as her case study, the young royal explored the concepts of cultural patronage, soft power and nationalism. \n\n\u201cI've been very passionate about the arts of the Middle East in general, and in particularly, Saudi Arabia,\u201d she told Rebecca McLaughlin-Eastham, anchor of Inspire Middle East. \u201c[I] always saw the incredible scene that was there, and this amazing growth and support for artists. And to see that really come to fruition, with the \u2018New Saudi Arabia\u2019 as everyone is calling it, has been really heart-warming and really wonderful.\u201d \n\nAl Senussi is now an advisor to Saudi Arabia\u2019s Ministry of Culture which was established in 2018. Whilst the kingdom\u2019s art scene is a work in progress, the princess believes those in charge have a desire to create the infrastructure needed for young artists to flourish. \n\n\u201cThere\u2019s a variety of government and even public-private partnerships,\u201d she says. \u201cSo, there is this growing infrastructure. But really at the heart of it, and as we always say in the art world, the \u2018building blocks\u2019 of everything - of the market, of institutions, of the artist - Saudi has that.\u201d \n\nAl Senussi believes that other good examples of emerging art hubs in the region include Dubai, Sharjah and the UAE capital, which is home to institutions like the Louvre Abu Dhabi. \n\nRegional art ambassador \n\nThe art intellectual has become a familiar and outspoken voice on the global contemporary circuit, passionate about arts\u2019 role in advancing and shaping societies. \n\nIt's a message she continues to spread through her work as Art Basel's representative in the UK & the Middle East. \n\nThe royal unstintingly supports emerging and socially disadvantaged artists in the Middle East region. Not only to encourage and preserve their talent, but to help the beautification, and rebuilding of their commonly fractured communities \u2013 so often impacted by war, occupation or revolution. \n\nThe younger generation and Libyan street artists, notes Al Senussi, have been on the creative front line of expression about their domestic situation in recent times. \n\n\u201cIn Libya, I think that they very much had a huge role to play in the in the revolution, and in the way that people perceived what was happening in \u2018the new Libya\u2019,\u201d she says. \u201cStreet art played a role in protest, and in the revolution, and also in Tunisia and Egypt, even in Lebanon. So, I think the young people in Libya found a way to express themselves through art and culture.\u201d \n\nCreative freedom \n\nOn the topic of artistic and creative freedom, Al Senussi says that whilst state-censorship does exist in pockets of the region, for the most part it\u2019s not enforced. \n\n\u201cFor better or worse, I think sometimes maybe governments don't even know that they should be censoring things,\u201d she says. \u201cAnd it's, kind of, a lack of interpretation of that. But I think they also understand that to have such a strict control, and have strict custom censorship, really, kind of, works against oneself.\u201d \n\nA common misconception amongst some, says the academic, is that Middle Eastern artists solely create art with a social or political pretext. \n\nThis isn\u2019t the case, says Al Senussi, who adds that historic events and societal shifts do, inevitably, provide context for many art works. \n\n\u201cMany of the Lebanese artists growing up in the civil war, for example \u2013 or artists that are growing up in a rapidly changing context, like here in the UAE, in Saudi Arabia etc - they're going to be talking about those subjects,\u201d says Al Senussi. \u201cIt\u2019s been a surprising thing for me, to see the resistance of traditional art history to embrace what's happening in the Middle East, but I think that\u2019s also changing.\u201d \n\nSEEN ON SOCIAL MEDIA: INSPIRING THROUGH ART \n\nNoor from Kuwait said she likes to touch people\u2019s heart with her paintings \n\nWith contributions from Nancy Sarkis, Ana De Oliva and Nicolas Tabbal. \n\n","htmlText":"<p>As a Libyan princess raised in exile, Alia Al Senussi, has never let her family\u2019s ousting from the throne and their homeland in the 1960s, define her.<\/p>\n<p>Her father, Prince Idris al-Senussi was just twelve years old when the monarchy was overthrown by Muammar Gaddafi.<\/p>\n<p>Born in the United States to an American mother, Princess Alia began returning to Libya in 2011 and was inspired by the people she encountered on the ground.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere was a sense of hope, a sense of positivity,\u201d she says. \u201cAlso, those kind of mixed emotions that come with being half-Libyan half-American, and to be welcomed as such. To have a variety of really incredible anecdotes, and interactions with so many young women there, was incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>The path to art<\/h2>\n<p>Al Senussi is an academic high-flyer who gained a doctorate from London\u2019s prestigious School of Oriental Arts & African Studies.<\/p>\n<p>With Saudi Arabia as her case study, the young royal explored the concepts of cultural patronage, soft power and nationalism.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI've been very passionate about the arts of the Middle East in general, and in particularly, Saudi Arabia,\u201d she told Rebecca McLaughlin-Eastham, anchor of Inspire Middle East. \u201c[I] always saw the incredible scene that was there, and this amazing growth and support for artists. And to see that really come to fruition, with the \u2018New Saudi Arabia\u2019 as everyone is calling it, has been really heart-warming and really wonderful.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-image widget--size-fullwidth widget--animation-fade-in widget--align-center\" data-ratio=\"0.5625\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio--auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <figure class=\"widget__figure\">\n <img class=\"widgetImage__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////static.euronews.com//articles//stories//04//65//67//94//808x454_cmsv2_db90a200-a5a3-5d53-91cd-ad13a35849e7-4656794.jpg/" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/65\/67\/94\/384x216_cmsv2_db90a200-a5a3-5d53-91cd-ad13a35849e7-4656794.jpg 384w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/65\/67\/94\/640x360_cmsv2_db90a200-a5a3-5d53-91cd-ad13a35849e7-4656794.jpg 640w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/65\/67\/94\/750x422_cmsv2_db90a200-a5a3-5d53-91cd-ad13a35849e7-4656794.jpg 750w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/65\/67\/94\/828x466_cmsv2_db90a200-a5a3-5d53-91cd-ad13a35849e7-4656794.jpg 828w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/65\/67\/94\/1080x608_cmsv2_db90a200-a5a3-5d53-91cd-ad13a35849e7-4656794.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/65\/67\/94\/1200x675_cmsv2_db90a200-a5a3-5d53-91cd-ad13a35849e7-4656794.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/65\/67\/94\/1920x1080_cmsv2_db90a200-a5a3-5d53-91cd-ad13a35849e7-4656794.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 95vw, (max-width: 1024px) 80vw, (max-width: 1280px) 55vw, 728px\"\/>\n <figcaption class=\"widget__caption\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionWrap\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionText\">Princess Alia Al Senussi speaks to Inspire Middle East<\/span>\n <\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<p>Al Senussi is now an advisor to Saudi Arabia\u2019s Ministry of Culture which was established in 2018. Whilst the kingdom\u2019s art scene is a work in progress, the princess believes those in charge have a desire to create the infrastructure needed for young artists to flourish.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s a variety of government and even public-private partnerships,\u201d she says. \u201cSo, there is this growing infrastructure. But really at the heart of it, and as we always say in the art world, the \u2018building blocks\u2019 of everything - of the market, of institutions, of the artist - Saudi has that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Al Senussi believes that other good examples of emerging art hubs in the region include Dubai, Sharjah and the UAE capital, which is home to institutions like the Louvre Abu Dhabi.<\/p>\n<h2>Regional art ambassador<\/h2>\n<p>The art intellectual has become a familiar and outspoken voice on the global contemporary circuit, passionate about arts\u2019 role in advancing and shaping societies.<\/p>\n<p>It's a message she continues to spread through her work as Art Basel's representative in the UK & the Middle East.<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-image widget--size-fullwidth widget--animation-fade-in widget--align-center\" data-ratio=\"0.5625\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio--auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <figure class=\"widget__figure\">\n <img class=\"widgetImage__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////static.euronews.com//articles//stories//04//65//67//94//808x454_cmsv2_6113b02f-fafa-52b4-9a84-f546d1d46088-4656794.jpg/" alt=\"COURTESY Art Basel\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/65\/67\/94\/384x216_cmsv2_6113b02f-fafa-52b4-9a84-f546d1d46088-4656794.jpg 384w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/65\/67\/94\/640x360_cmsv2_6113b02f-fafa-52b4-9a84-f546d1d46088-4656794.jpg 640w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/65\/67\/94\/750x422_cmsv2_6113b02f-fafa-52b4-9a84-f546d1d46088-4656794.jpg 750w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/65\/67\/94\/828x466_cmsv2_6113b02f-fafa-52b4-9a84-f546d1d46088-4656794.jpg 828w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/65\/67\/94\/1080x608_cmsv2_6113b02f-fafa-52b4-9a84-f546d1d46088-4656794.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/65\/67\/94\/1200x675_cmsv2_6113b02f-fafa-52b4-9a84-f546d1d46088-4656794.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/65\/67\/94\/1920x1080_cmsv2_6113b02f-fafa-52b4-9a84-f546d1d46088-4656794.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 95vw, (max-width: 1024px) 80vw, (max-width: 1280px) 55vw, 728px\"\/>\n <figcaption class=\"widget__caption\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionWrap\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionText\">Princess Alia Al Senussi gives a talk at Art Basel Conversations<\/span>\n <span class=\"widget__captionCredit\">COURTESY Art Basel<\/span>\n <\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<p>The royal unstintingly supports emerging and socially disadvantaged artists in the Middle East region. Not only to encourage and preserve their talent, but to help the beautification, and rebuilding of their commonly fractured communities \u2013 so often impacted by war, occupation or revolution.<\/p>\n<p>The younger generation and Libyan street artists, notes Al Senussi, have been on the creative front line of expression about their domestic situation in recent times.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn Libya, I think that they very much had a huge role to play in the in the revolution, and in the way that people perceived what was happening in \u2018the new Libya\u2019,\u201d she says. \u201cStreet art played a role in protest, and in the revolution, and also in Tunisia and Egypt, even in Lebanon. So, I think the young people in Libya found a way to express themselves through art and culture.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Creative freedom<\/h2>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-image widget--size-fullwidth widget--animation-fade-in widget--align-center\" data-ratio=\"0.5625\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio--auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <figure class=\"widget__figure\">\n <img class=\"widgetImage__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////static.euronews.com//articles//stories//04//65//67//94//808x454_cmsv2_f96edf98-fd11-51aa-92e2-27807a77758c-4656794.jpg/" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/65\/67\/94\/384x216_cmsv2_f96edf98-fd11-51aa-92e2-27807a77758c-4656794.jpg 384w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/65\/67\/94\/640x360_cmsv2_f96edf98-fd11-51aa-92e2-27807a77758c-4656794.jpg 640w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/65\/67\/94\/750x422_cmsv2_f96edf98-fd11-51aa-92e2-27807a77758c-4656794.jpg 750w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/65\/67\/94\/828x466_cmsv2_f96edf98-fd11-51aa-92e2-27807a77758c-4656794.jpg 828w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/65\/67\/94\/1080x608_cmsv2_f96edf98-fd11-51aa-92e2-27807a77758c-4656794.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/65\/67\/94\/1200x675_cmsv2_f96edf98-fd11-51aa-92e2-27807a77758c-4656794.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/65\/67\/94\/1920x1080_cmsv2_f96edf98-fd11-51aa-92e2-27807a77758c-4656794.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 95vw, (max-width: 1024px) 80vw, (max-width: 1280px) 55vw, 728px\"\/>\n <figcaption class=\"widget__caption\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionWrap\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionText\">Princess Alia Al Senussi participates at the Milken Institute summit<\/span>\n <\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<p>On the topic of artistic and creative freedom, Al Senussi says that whilst state-censorship does exist in pockets of the region, for the most part it\u2019s not enforced.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor better or worse, I think sometimes maybe governments don't even know that they should be censoring things,\u201d she says. \u201cAnd it's, kind of, a lack of interpretation of that. But I think they also understand that to have such a strict control, and have strict custom censorship, really, kind of, works against oneself.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A common misconception amongst some, says the academic, is that Middle Eastern artists solely create art with a social or political pretext.<\/p>\n<p>This isn\u2019t the case, says Al Senussi, who adds that historic events and societal shifts do, inevitably, provide context for many art works.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMany of the Lebanese artists growing up in the civil war, for example \u2013 or artists that are growing up in a rapidly changing context, like here in the UAE, in Saudi Arabia etc - they're going to be talking about those subjects,\u201d says Al Senussi. \u201cIt\u2019s been a surprising thing for me, to see the resistance of traditional art history to embrace what's happening in the Middle East, but I think that\u2019s also changing.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>SEEN ON SOCIAL MEDIA: INSPIRING THROUGH ART<\/h2>\n<p>Noor from Kuwait said she likes to touch people\u2019s heart with her paintings<\/p>\n<div data-oembed-url=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/BuJMvz9BzAg\/\" class=\"widget widget--type-instagram widget--size-fullwidth widget--align-center\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <figure class=\"widget__figure\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio--auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <blockquote class=\"instagram-media\" data-instgrm-captioned data-instgrm-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/BuJMvz9BzAg\/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading\" data-instgrm-version=\"12\" style=\" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);\"><div style=\"padding:16px;\"> <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.instagram.com//p//BuJMvz9BzAg//?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading\%22 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style=\" color:#3897f0; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:550; line-height:18px;\"> View this post on Instagram<\/div><\/div><div style=\"padding: 12.5% 0;\"><\/div> <div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;\"><div> <div style=\"background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);\"><\/div> <div style=\"background-color: #F4F4F4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;\"><\/div> <div style=\"background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);\"><\/div><\/div><div style=\"margin-left: 8px;\"> <div style=\" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;\"><\/div> <div style=\" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg)\"><\/div><\/div><div style=\"margin-left: auto;\"> <div style=\" width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);\"><\/div> <div style=\" background-color: #F4F4F4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);\"><\/div> <div style=\" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/a> <p style=\" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;\"> <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.instagram.com//p//BuJMvz9BzAg//?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading\%22 target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\" style=\" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;\" target=\"_blank\">#artists #contemporaryart #artistsoninstagram #artiste #womenartists #arabartists #contemporarypainting #instaartist #instaart #paint #femalepainter #painter #painterly #minimalistic #art #femaleartist #acrylicpainting #artists #artist #artwork #artpiece #canvas #canvaspainting #canvasart #minimalism #minimal #minimalist #minimalismart #modernpainting #contemporaryartist #contemporarypainter<\/a><\/p> <p style=\" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;\">A post shared by <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.instagram.com//n3teeqi//?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading\%22 target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\" style=\" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px;\" target=\"_blank\"> Noor Al Ateeqi<\/a> (@n3teeqi) on <time style=\" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;\" datetime=\"2019-02-21T12:24:56+00:00\">Feb 21, 2019 at 4:24am PST<\/time><\/p><\/div><\/blockquote> <script async src=https://www.euronews.com/"////www.instagram.com//embed.js/"> \n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><em>With contributions from Nancy Sarkis, Ana De Oliva and Nicolas Tabbal.<\/em><\/p>\n","hashtag":null,"createdAt":1587987863,"updatedAt":1723539856,"publishedAt":1588929025,"firstPublishedAt":1588605398,"lastPublishedAt":1588975744,"expiresAt":0,"images":[{"url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/1093115\/{{w}}x{{h}}_1093115.jpg","altText":null,"caption":null,"captionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"euronews","sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"callToActionText":null,"width":2880,"height":1620},{"url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/65\/67\/94\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_f96edf98-fd11-51aa-92e2-27807a77758c-4656794.jpg","altText":"Princess Alia Al Senussi participates at the Milken Institute summit","caption":"Princess Alia Al Senussi participates at the Milken Institute summit","captionUrl":null,"captionCredit":" ","sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"callToActionText":null,"width":1600,"height":900},{"url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/65\/67\/94\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_6113b02f-fafa-52b4-9a84-f546d1d46088-4656794.jpg","altText":"Princess Alia Al Senussi gives a talk at Art Basel Conversations","caption":"Princess Alia Al Senussi gives a talk at Art Basel Conversations","captionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"COURTESY Art Basel","sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"callToActionText":null,"width":2880,"height":1620},{"url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/65\/67\/94\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_db90a200-a5a3-5d53-91cd-ad13a35849e7-4656794.jpg","altText":"Princess Alia Al Senussi speaks to Inspire Middle East","caption":"Princess Alia Al Senussi speaks to Inspire Middle East","captionUrl":null,"captionCredit":" ","sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"callToActionText":null,"width":1600,"height":900}],"authors":{"journalists":[],"producers":[],"videoEditor":[]},"keywords":[{"id":4143,"slug":"art","urlSafeValue":"art","title":"Art","titleRaw":"Art"},{"id":574,"slug":"culture","urlSafeValue":"culture","title":"Culture","titleRaw":"Culture"},{"id":243,"slug":"saudi-arabia","urlSafeValue":"saudi-arabia","title":"Saudi Arabia","titleRaw":"Saudi Arabia"},{"id":172,"slug":"libya","urlSafeValue":"libya","title":"Libya","titleRaw":"Libya"}],"widgets":[{"slug":"image","count":3},{"slug":"instagram","count":1}],"related":[{"id":1103338}],"technicalTags":[],"externalPartners":{"youtubeId":"I0fZXnldLWE","dailymotionId":"x7ts9cx"},"hasExternalVideo":1,"hasInternalOrExternalVideo":1,"video":1,"videos":[{"format":"mp4","quality":"md","type":"normal","url":"https:\/\/video.euronews.com\/mp4\/med\/EN\/IP\/SU\/20\/05\/08\/en\/200508_IPSU_11784586_11784589_720000_132558_en.mp4","editor":"","duration":720000,"filesizeBytes":70405284,"expiresAt":0}],"liveStream":[{"startDate":0,"endDate":0}],"scribbleLiveId":0,"scribbleLiveRibbon":0,"isLiveCoverage":0,"sourceId":1,"sources":[],"externalSource":null,"additionalSources":"","additionalReporting":"Daleen Hassan, Rebecca McLaughlin-Eastham and Salim 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WAR AND COVID 19 by Anelise Borges","daletPyramidId":null,"channels":[{"id":1},{"id":2},{"id":4},{"id":5},{"id":12}],"status":2,"title":"Libya: Caught between bombs, bullets and now COVID-19","titleSeo":null,"titleListing1":"Libya: Caught between bombs, bullets and now COVID-19","titleListing2":"The coronavirus pandemic is putting yet more strain on a country already struggling with civil war and a migrant crisis.","leadin":"The coronavirus pandemic is putting yet more strain on a country already struggling with civil war and a migrant crisis.","summary":"The coronavirus pandemic is putting yet more strain on a country already struggling with civil war and a migrant crisis.","keySentence":"","url":"libya-caught-between-bombs-bullets-and-now-covid-19","canonical":"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/2020\/04\/16\/libya-caught-between-bombs-bullets-and-now-covid-19","masterCms":"v2","plainText":"Libya has been engulfed by conflict for nearly a decade now. \n\nThe fall of dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 was supposed to herald a new phase of social development and freedom for the country of six million.\u00a0 \n\nInstead, it brought about political and economic instability and plunged Libyans into what many describe as their darkest days. \n\nWadah Alkish, a young Tripoli resident, told Euronews things are \"really hopeless\" as Libya now faces a new and invisible threat: COVID-19. \n\nAlkish sent us a few audio messages on Facebook, explaining how life has changed since authorities started imposing curfews in different parts of the country and enforced lockdowns to try and halt the spread of coronavirus. \n\n\"For people like me who don\u2019t get a salary from the government, things are really difficult,\" Alkish said. He used to do a series of jobs including ride-sharing services \u201cjust like Uber, the Uber services in America, but not exactly\", Alkish said. \n\nHis joking tone changed when he described the situation right now: \"Since the curfew started, my customers don\u2019t call me. They don\u2019t have anywhere to go. So I wasn\u2019t able to make any money during the last couple of weeks.\" \n\nResidents in the capital also faced electricity and water shortages in the past few days, Alkish said. \"People were about to lose their minds, I mean... no electricity, no water... only a few hours to go out and get your stuff together, you know?\" \n\nLockdown means it's harder to escape the conflict \n\nBut, in Libya, those who still have a home to go back to are among the lucky ones. \n\nSince the fighting reignited last year, when General Khalifa Haftar in the east ordered militias in the self-proclaimed \"Libyan National Army\" to take control of the capital Tripoli , some 200,000 Libyans were displaced, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). \n\nMany of them now live in makeshift shelters -- schools and gymnasiums turned reception centres -- in and around Tripoli. These conflict-stricken families now struggle to meet basic needs, from shelter to food, water, and medical care. And are unable to follow social distancing measures due to the inherently crowded nature of these spaces. \n\nWillem de Jonge, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)\u2019s head of operations for Libya, says the tight restrictions on travel have also affected people trying to escape the conflict. \n\n\"Restriction of movement as a result of the COVID-19 crisis has also impacted the ability for people caught up in the fighting to move to other areas, which is a very common thing you see during a conflict - internal displacement. But if you have curfews in place\u2026 restriction of movement is an extra challenge that we see,\u201d de Jonge said. \n\nUN calls for global ceasefire fall on deaf ears \n\nDespite the UN\u2019s call for a global ceasefire , Libya has yet to see a de-escalation in the fighting. \n\n\"In fact, over the past few weeks we have seen an increase in the internal conflict,\" said de Jonge. And the fighting is straining the country's already fragile healthcare system, which instead of focusing on preparing for COVID-19, is busy treating fighters. \n\n\"Traditionally, war-wounded were sent abroad for treatment, for proper healthcare, which of course is impossible now because of the travel restrictions.\u00a0 \n\n\"So not only do we see an increase in the number of war-wounded, because there\u2019s an increase in fighting, but these war-wounded are having to be treated in Libya, which again puts an extra strain on the health system,\" de Jonge said. \n\n\"Even though there are serious efforts being made all over the country to prepare for more (COVID-19) cases\u00a0\u2014 wards being established, treatment protocols, purchase of PPE (personal protective equipment)\u00a0\u2014 I think this will be a huge challenge\u201d. \n\nGetting humanitarian aid inside Libya was already hard enough because of the constant fighting and different authorities and militias controlling different parts of the country. \n\nNow that curfews are in place, customs only work restricted hours, which means aid shipment are taking much longer to be delivered, according to de Jonge, who said that the situation is inevitably impacting international humanitarian organisations' ability to respond quickly. \n\n\"We passed the message to both sets of authorities so that they allow for humanitarian aid and personnel to move freely,\" he said. \n\nMigrants at risk \n\nLong before COVID-19 emerged as a life-threatening respiratory disease that brought the entire world to a halt, one group of people already experienced extraordinary hardships in Libya. \n\nAccording to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), there are over 600,000 refugees and migrants in the country. \n\nMany are from sub-Saharan nations who arrived in Libya before the fall of Gaddafi and who are now, for the most part, seeking to leave the war-torn country despite the pandemic. \n\nOn Wednesday, a group of 50 migrants and refugees , who had been rescued at sea by a Maltese ship in Maltese waters, were taken back to Libya and allowed to disembark in Tripoli. From the naval base where they docked, authorities took them straight to the infamous detention centres where a large number of asylum seekers are kept. \n\n\u201cObviously they are in a difficult situation, their access to health care is more difficult than that of a Libyan national... they will be living in close confinement and many won\u2019t be able to carry out the physical distancing that is being advised,\" de Jonge explained. \n\nWhile many live among Libyan nationals, mostly in poor areas, thousands are currently held in detention centres across the country \u2013 some in facilities operated by the government, others in informal jails run by armed groups. \n\nVery little is known about the living conditions in the militias-run wards, but if the accounts of those who manage to escape them are anything to go by, a full-blown epidemic would be impossible to contain in their insalubrious and crowded quarters. \n\n\"Migrants and refugees are disproportionately vulnerable to exclusion, stigma and discrimination, particularly when undocumented. To avert a catastrophe, governments must do all they can to protect the rights and the health of everyone,\" read a joint statement published by the IOM, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCR), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the World Health Organization (WHO). \n\nThat task may be beyond what Libya can afford to offer right now. \n\n","htmlText":"<p>Libya has been engulfed by conflict for nearly a decade now.<\/p>\n<p>The fall of dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 was supposed to herald a new phase of social development and freedom for the country of six million.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Instead, it brought about political and economic instability and plunged Libyans into what many describe as their darkest days.<\/p>\n<p>Wadah Alkish, a young Tripoli resident, told Euronews things are \"really hopeless\" as Libya now faces a new and invisible threat: COVID-19.<\/p>\n<p>Alkish sent us a few audio messages on Facebook, explaining how life has changed since authorities started imposing curfews in different parts of the country and enforced lockdowns to try and halt the spread of coronavirus.<\/p>\n<p>\"For people like me who don\u2019t get a salary from the government, things are really difficult,\" Alkish said. He used to do a series of jobs including ride-sharing services \u201cjust like Uber, the Uber services in America, but not exactly\", Alkish said.<\/p>\n<p>His joking tone changed when he described the situation right now: \"Since the curfew started, my customers don\u2019t call me. They don\u2019t have anywhere to go. So I wasn\u2019t able to make any money during the last couple of weeks.\"<\/p>\n<p>Residents in the capital also faced electricity and water shortages in the past few days, Alkish said. \"People were about to lose their minds, I mean... no electricity, no water... only a few hours to go out and get your stuff together, you know?\"<\/p>\n<h2>Lockdown means it's harder to escape the conflict<\/h2>\n<p>But, in Libya, those who still have a home to go back to are among the lucky ones.<\/p>\n<p>Since the fighting reignited last year, when General Khalifa Haftar in the east ordered militias in the self-proclaimed \"Libyan National Army\" <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////foreignpolicy.com//2019//04//01//while-you-werent-looking-general-haftar-has-been-taking-over-libya-oil-united-nations///" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\">to take control of the capital Tripoli<\/a>, some 200,000 Libyans were displaced, <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.iom.int//news//over-200000-libyans-displaced-amid-fighting-covid-19-threat-increases/" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\">according to the International Organization for Migration<\/a> (IOM).<\/p>\n<p>Many of them now live in makeshift shelters -- schools and gymnasiums turned reception centres -- in and around Tripoli. These conflict-stricken families now struggle to meet basic needs, from shelter to food, water, and medical care. And are unable to follow social distancing measures due to the inherently crowded nature of these spaces.<\/p>\n<p>Willem de Jonge, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)\u2019s head of operations for Libya, says the tight restrictions on travel have also affected people trying to escape the conflict.<\/p>\n<p>\"Restriction of movement as a result of the COVID-19 crisis has also impacted the ability for people caught up in the fighting to move to other areas, which is a very common thing you see during a conflict - internal displacement. But if you have curfews in place\u2026 restriction of movement is an extra challenge that we see,\u201d de Jonge said.<\/p>\n<h2>UN calls for global ceasefire fall on deaf ears<\/h2>\n<p>Despite the <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.un.org//sg//en//content//sg//statement//2020-03-23//secretary-generals-appeal-for-global-ceasefire/" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\">UN\u2019s call for a global ceasefire<\/a>, Libya has yet to see a de-escalation in the fighting.<\/p>\n<p>\"In fact, over the past few weeks we have seen an increase in the internal conflict,\" said de Jonge. And the fighting is straining the country's already fragile healthcare system, which instead of focusing on preparing for COVID-19, is busy treating fighters.<\/p>\n<p>\"Traditionally, war-wounded were sent abroad for treatment, for proper healthcare, which of course is impossible now because of the travel restrictions.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\"So not only do we see an increase in the number of war-wounded, because there\u2019s an increase in fighting, but these war-wounded are having to be treated in Libya, which again puts an extra strain on the health system,\" de Jonge said.<\/p>\n<p>\"Even though there are serious efforts being made all over the country to prepare for more (COVID-19) cases\u00a0\u2014 wards being established, treatment protocols, purchase of PPE (personal protective equipment)\u00a0\u2014 I think this will be a huge challenge\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Getting humanitarian aid inside Libya was already hard enough because of the constant fighting and different authorities and militias controlling different parts of the country.<\/p>\n<p>Now that curfews are in place, customs only work restricted hours, which means aid shipment are taking much longer to be delivered, according to de Jonge, who said that the situation is inevitably impacting international humanitarian organisations' ability to respond quickly.<\/p>\n<p>\"We passed the message to both sets of authorities so that they allow for humanitarian aid and personnel to move freely,\" he said.<\/p>\n<h2>Migrants at risk<\/h2>\n<p>Long before COVID-19 emerged as a life-threatening respiratory disease that brought the entire world to a halt, one group of people already experienced extraordinary hardships in Libya.<\/p>\n<p>According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), there are over 600,000 refugees and migrants in the country.<\/p>\n<p>Many are from sub-Saharan nations who arrived in Libya before the fall of Gaddafi and who are now, for the most part, seeking to leave the war-torn country despite the pandemic.<\/p>\n<p>On Wednesday, <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.infomigrants.net//en//post//24140//around-50-migrants-taken-back-to-libya-as-fighting-continues/" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\">a group of 50 migrants and refugees<\/a>, who had been rescued at sea by a Maltese ship in Maltese waters, were taken back to Libya and allowed to disembark in Tripoli. From the naval base where they docked, authorities took them straight to the infamous detention centres where a large number of asylum seekers are kept.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cObviously they are in a difficult situation, their access to health care is more difficult than that of a Libyan national... they will be living in close confinement and many won\u2019t be able to carry out the physical distancing that is being advised,\" de Jonge explained.<\/p>\n<p>While many live among Libyan nationals, mostly in poor areas, thousands are currently held in detention centres across the country \u2013 some in facilities operated by the government, others in informal jails run by armed groups.<\/p>\n<p>Very little is known about the living conditions in the militias-run wards, but if the accounts of those who manage to escape them are anything to go by, a full-blown epidemic would be impossible to contain in their insalubrious and crowded quarters.<\/p>\n<p>\"Migrants and refugees are disproportionately vulnerable to exclusion, stigma and discrimination, particularly when undocumented. To avert a catastrophe, governments must do all they can to protect the rights and the health of everyone,\" read <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.who.int//news-room//detail//31-03-2020-ohchr-iom-unhcr-and-who-joint-press-release-the-rights-and-health-of-refugees-migrants-and-stateless-must-be-protected-in-covid-19-response/" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\">a joint statement<\/a> published by the IOM, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCR), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the World Health Organization (WHO).<\/p>\n<p>That task may be beyond what Libya can afford to offer right now.<\/p>\n","hashtag":null,"createdAt":1587004225,"updatedAt":1723539856,"publishedAt":1587057244,"firstPublishedAt":1587057262,"lastPublishedAt":1587057859,"expiresAt":0,"images":[{"url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/53\/40\/56\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_f3d10d78-818c-5b6a-8ff0-3cad1287692b-4534056.jpg","altText":null,"caption":null,"captionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"Felipe Dana\/Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.","sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"callToActionText":null,"width":5000,"height":3333}],"authors":{"journalists":[{"id":1443,"urlSafeValue":"anelise-borges","title":"Anelise Borges","twitter":"@AnneliseBorges"}],"producers":[],"videoEditor":[]},"keywords":[{"id":172,"slug":"libya","urlSafeValue":"libya","title":"Libya","titleRaw":"Libya"},{"id":22526,"slug":"coronavirus","urlSafeValue":"coronavirus","title":"Coronavirus","titleRaw":"Coronavirus"},{"id":14820,"slug":"khalifa-haftar","urlSafeValue":"khalifa-haftar","title":"Khalifa Haftar","titleRaw":"Khalifa Haftar"}],"widgets":[],"related":[{"id":1104582},{"id":1168254}],"technicalTags":[],"externalPartners":{"youtubeId":"Uspzc9JJ744","dailymotionId":"x7tcbp7"},"hasExternalVideo":1,"hasInternalOrExternalVideo":1,"video":1,"videos":[{"format":"mp4","quality":"md","type":"normal","url":"https:\/\/video.euronews.com\/mp4\/med\/EN\/NW\/SU\/20\/04\/16\/en\/200416_NWSU_11671943_11673262_153080_155155_en.mp4","editor":"","duration":153080,"filesizeBytes":15121498,"expiresAt":0}],"liveStream":[{"startDate":0,"endDate":0}],"scribbleLiveId":0,"scribbleLiveRibbon":0,"isLiveCoverage":0,"sourceId":1,"sources":[],"externalSource":null,"additionalSources":null,"additionalReporting":null,"freeField1":null,"freeField2":"","type":"normal","displayType":"default","program":{"id":"world","urlSafeValue":"world","title":"World News","online":1,"url":"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/programs\/world"},"season":"","episode":"","episodeId":"","vertical":"news","verticals":[{"id":1,"slug":"news","urlSafeValue":"news","title":"News"}],"primaryVertical":{"id":1,"slug":"news","urlSafeValue":"news","title":"News"},"themes":[{"id":"news","urlSafeValue":"news","title":"World","url":"\/news\/international"}],"primaryTheme":{"id":1,"urlSafeValue":"news","title":"World"},"advertising":0,"advertisingData":{"startDate":0,"endDate":0,"type":null,"slug":null,"title":null,"disclaimerLabelKey":null,"sponsor":null,"sponsorName":null,"sponsorUrl":null,"sponsorLogo":"","sponsorLogoReverse":"","isDfp":0},"geoLocation":{"lat":0,"lon":0},"location":1,"continent":{"id":3,"urlSafeValue":"africa","title":"Africa"},"country":{"id":172,"urlSafeValue":"libya","title":"Libya","url":"\/news\/africa\/libya"},"town":[],"contextualSignals":{"doubleVerify":{"ids":[],"slugs":[]}},"grapeshot":"'gs_covid19','neg_facebook_2021','pos_equinor','pos_facebook','pos_pmi','neg_facebook','gs_society','neg_mobkoi_feb2021','neg_mobkoi_castrol','neg_facebook_q4','gt_negative','gs_health_misc','gs_health','castrol_negative_uk','gv_military','neg_bucherer','gs_society_misc','gs_society_charity','gs_politics','gs_politics_misc','gv_arms','gt_negative_anger'","versions":[],"programDeliverable":{"slug":"sujet","format":"default"},"showOpinionDisclaimer":0,"allViews":0,"allViewsMeta":{"pointOfView":[],"survey":[],"tweetId":0,"tweet2NdId":0,"displayOverlay":0},"storyTranslationMethod":[],"localisation":[],"autoPublished":0,"autoLocalised":0,"isReviewed":0,"path":"\/2020\/04\/16\/libya-caught-between-bombs-bullets-and-now-covid-19","lastModified":1587057859},{"id":1079010,"cid":4635626,"versionId":2,"archive":0,"housenumber":"200416_WBSU_11677035","owner":"euronews","isMagazine":0,"isBreakingNews":0,"daletEventName":"View Libya Covid Europe","daletPyramidId":null,"channels":[{"id":1},{"id":2},{"id":4},{"id":5},{"id":12}],"status":2,"title":"Ignoring COVID-19 cases at Libya migrant centres will have dire consequences for Europe \u01c0 View","titleSeo":null,"titleListing1":null,"titleListing2":"Ignoring COVID-19 cases at Libya migrant centres will have dire consequences for Europe \u01c0 View","leadin":"Both individual countries like Italy and the EU overall will need to strike the political balance between the needs of their citizens and the humanitarian obligation to provide shelter for refugees and migrants.","summary":"Both individual countries like Italy and the EU overall will need to strike the political balance between the needs of their citizens and the humanitarian obligation to provide shelter for refugees and migrants.","keySentence":"","url":"ignoring-covid-19-cases-libya-migrant-centres-will-have-dire-consequences-for-europe-view","canonical":"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/2020\/04\/16\/ignoring-covid-19-cases-libya-migrant-centres-will-have-dire-consequences-for-europe-view","masterCms":"v2","plainText":"In recent weeks, commentators in various media outlets have expressed concern about the risk of COVID-19 spreading to Libya, in particular to the detention centres where migrants attempting to pass through Libya to Europe are held. Of course, the issues around migration have been bubbling away in Europe for years. Long before COVID-19, migrants arriving in Europe have been screened for disease. The influx of migrants to Europe has provoked debate over whether the governments of European countries are obliged to let in refugees or preserve their citizens' quality of life. COVID-19 is not the first international crisis to provoke such debates, but it is the most widespread and severe. A virus represents a different order of threat from any terrorist grouping, criminal network or other problems that have been discussed in the debate on migration. This virus will bring to a sharp and unavoidable point all of the political debates that have been raging in Europe about the migrant question. \n\nThe risks from COVID-19 spreading in Libya are numerous. Its ongoing civil war in has drastically reduced the capacity of the health and social services in the country to respond to or contain a major outbreak. The continuing fighting makes it extremely difficult for international or domestic organisations and healthcare workers to do their jobs. The damage to Libya\u2019s public facilities - like its sanitation system, electrical grid, and hospitals - has further drastically reduced the country\u2019s capacity to handle anything like the major outbreaks that have been seen elsewhere. \n\nThe situation in the migrant detention centres is even more acute. Extreme overcrowding, notably worse access to public facilities than the rest of Libya, poorly trained guards and staff, and limited access for healthcare professionals and NGOs, are the most obvious issues. These are combined with an already serious reality of malnourishment and general poor health among the migrants held in the centres, and a complete incapacity of the Libyan authorities, on either side of the conflict, to provide care for the migrants in any case. The detention centres in Libya would be probably the most catastrophic place for a possible outbreak to occur. With no capacity to quarantine or socially distance, to say nothing of the extremely limited testing capacity in Libya generally and the centres in particular, the virus would go unchecked. With the already dismal conditions and weakened state of many migrants, the death toll would be significantly higher than in nearly any other imaginable context where the virus could spread. \n\nThe real issue for Europe arises with the rescue of migrants from the Mediterranean after an outbreak has been confirmed in one or more of the detention centres. There has already been enormous controversy on the continent over the rescue of migrants adrift at sea, at both governmental and citizen level. The issue is one of the most divisive in European politics, and certainly long before COVID-19 had bitterly divided opinion in many countries who have received the bulk of all arrivals, in particular Italy and Greece. \n\nWhat happens now if a privately-operated ship rescues a boatload (or more) of migrants and attempts to dock at an Italian port? After the passengers have been crammed together on-board for several days, it is certain that if even one of them has COVID-19, it will have spread to other migrants and probably the ship\u2019s crew as well. Even if the risks are small, even if resources and controls are in place to prevent COVID-19 spreading from the arrivals to the general population, even if COVID-19 has already spread through Italy, the risk is still there. If even one person in Italy dies from a case of COVID-19 linked to the arrival of a ship carrying migrants, the government will be accused of failing to protect its citizens. Numbers, relative percentages of risk, and infection vectors are useless here. This problem is at the core of European politics. What choice will the Italian government make in this scenario? What are the obligations of the EU to the citizens of its member states? Both individual countries like Italy and the EU overall will need to strike the political balance between the needs of their citizens and the humanitarian obligation to provide shelter for refugees and migrants. \n\nIs the government of Italy (or Greece or Spain, or the EU itself) obliged to devote already scarce resources in a time of pandemic to screening and caring for migrants? The NGOs and other organisations that bring migrants into Italian ports, occasionally in direct contravention of the government\u2019s orders, are already the subjects of debate and criticism in Europe. These organisations could now be accused of worsening a public health crisis, even if it is only a small or statistically negligible increase. And again, statistics and figures are useless here. These debates cut through to the true nature of the relationship between a government and its citizens, and the answers are based on things far beyond numbers or scientific analysis. \n\nI have used the Italian government as an example here, but this scenario and the associated political questions could apply to any government in Europe - and it applies most directly to the EU itself. The outbreak of COVID-19 in Libya - and specifically in the migrant detention centres - is a certainty, and indeed may very well have occurred already. The duty of the state to its citizens versus its duty to non-citizens has been debated for millennia in every part of the world. No easy or clear answers have been found. Now the EU must ask itself the same question; what is the duty of the EU to the citizens of the Union? This is a political debate, one that will shape the future of Europe. The EU would be best served by having it now, before the inevitable outbreak in Libya occurs. \n\nNiall McGlynn studied International Relations and History at Leiden University and Trinity College Dublin. He is currently an independent scholar and policy professional based in Ireland. \n\n____________ \n\nAre you a recognised expert in your field? At Euronews, we believe all views matter. Contact us at view@euronews.com to send pitches or submissions and be part of the conversation. \n\n","htmlText":"<p>In recent weeks, commentators in various media outlets have expressed concern about the risk of COVID-19 spreading to Libya, in particular to the detention centres where migrants attempting to pass through Libya to Europe are held. Of course, the issues around migration have been bubbling away in Europe for years. Long before COVID-19, migrants arriving in Europe have been screened for disease. The influx of migrants to Europe has provoked debate over whether the governments of European countries are obliged to let in refugees or preserve their citizens' quality of life. COVID-19 is not the first international crisis to provoke such debates, but it is the most widespread and severe. A virus represents a different order of threat from any terrorist grouping, criminal network or other problems that have been discussed in the debate on migration. This virus will bring to a sharp and unavoidable point all of the political debates that have been raging in Europe about the migrant question.<\/p>\n<p>The risks from COVID-19 spreading in Libya are numerous. Its ongoing civil war in has drastically reduced the capacity of the health and social services in the country to respond to or contain a major outbreak. The continuing fighting makes it extremely difficult for international or domestic organisations and healthcare workers to do their jobs. The damage to Libya\u2019s public facilities - like its sanitation system, electrical grid, and hospitals - has further drastically reduced the country\u2019s capacity to handle anything like the major outbreaks that have been seen elsewhere.<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-quotation\n widget--size-fullwidth\n widget--align-center\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__content\">\n <blockquote class=\"widget__quote\">\n <span class=\"widget__quoteText\">The detention centres in Libya would be probably the most catastrophic place for a possible outbreak to occur.<\/span>\n <\/blockquote>\n <cite class=\"widget__author\">\n <div class=\"widget__authorText\">\n Niall McGlynn\n <\/div>\n <div class=\"widget__author_descriptionText\">\n Researcher\n <\/div>\n <\/cite>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<p>The situation in the migrant detention centres is even more acute. Extreme overcrowding, notably worse access to public facilities than the rest of Libya, poorly trained guards and staff, and limited access for healthcare professionals and NGOs, are the most obvious issues. These are combined with an already serious reality of malnourishment and general poor health among the migrants held in the centres, and a complete incapacity of the Libyan authorities, on either side of the conflict, to provide care for the migrants in any case. The detention centres in Libya would be probably the most catastrophic place for a possible outbreak to occur. With no capacity to quarantine or socially distance, to say nothing of the extremely limited testing capacity in Libya generally and the centres in particular, the virus would go unchecked. With the already dismal conditions and weakened state of many migrants, the death toll would be significantly higher than in nearly any other imaginable context where the virus could spread.<\/p>\n<p>The real issue for Europe arises with the rescue of migrants from the Mediterranean after an outbreak has been confirmed in one or more of the detention centres. There has already been enormous controversy on the continent over the rescue of migrants adrift at sea, at both governmental and citizen level. The issue is one of the most divisive in European politics, and certainly long before COVID-19 had bitterly divided opinion in many countries who have received the bulk of all arrivals, in particular Italy and Greece.<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-quotation\n widget--size-fullwidth\n widget--align-center\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__content\">\n <blockquote class=\"widget__quote\">\n <span class=\"widget__quoteText\">What happens now if a privately-operated ship rescues a boatload (or more) of migrants and attempts to dock at an Italian port? After the passengers have been crammed together on-board for several days, it is certain that if even one of them has COVID-19, it will have spread to other migrants and probably the ship\u2019s crew as well.<\/span>\n <\/blockquote>\n <cite class=\"widget__author\">\n <div class=\"widget__authorText\">\n Niall McGlynn\n <\/div>\n <div class=\"widget__author_descriptionText\">\n Researcher\n <\/div>\n <\/cite>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<p>What happens now if a privately-operated ship rescues a boatload (or more) of migrants and attempts to dock at an Italian port? After the passengers have been crammed together on-board for several days, it is certain that if even one of them has COVID-19, it will have spread to other migrants and probably the ship\u2019s crew as well. Even if the risks are small, even if resources and controls are in place to prevent COVID-19 spreading from the arrivals to the general population, even if COVID-19 has already spread through Italy, the risk is still there. If even one person in Italy dies from a case of COVID-19 linked to the arrival of a ship carrying migrants, the government will be accused of failing to protect its citizens. Numbers, relative percentages of risk, and infection vectors are useless here. This problem is at the core of European politics. What choice will the Italian government make in this scenario? What are the obligations of the EU to the citizens of its member states? Both individual countries like Italy and the EU overall will need to strike the political balance between the needs of their citizens and the humanitarian obligation to provide shelter for refugees and migrants.<\/p>\n<p>Is the government of Italy (or Greece or Spain, or the EU itself) obliged to devote already scarce resources in a time of pandemic to screening and caring for migrants? The NGOs and other organisations that bring migrants into Italian ports, occasionally in direct contravention of the government\u2019s orders, are already the subjects of debate and criticism in Europe. These organisations could now be accused of worsening a public health crisis, even if it is only a small or statistically negligible increase. And again, statistics and figures are useless here. These debates cut through to the true nature of the relationship between a government and its citizens, and the answers are based on things far beyond numbers or scientific analysis.<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-quotation\n widget--size-fullwidth\n widget--align-center\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__content\">\n <blockquote class=\"widget__quote\">\n <span class=\"widget__quoteText\">The duty of the state to its citizens versus its duty to non-citizens has been debated for millennia in every part of the world. No easy or clear answers have been found.<\/span>\n <\/blockquote>\n <cite class=\"widget__author\">\n <div class=\"widget__authorText\">\n Niall McGlynn\n <\/div>\n <div class=\"widget__author_descriptionText\">\n Researcher\n <\/div>\n <\/cite>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<p>I have used the Italian government as an example here, but this scenario and the associated political questions could apply to any government in Europe - and it applies most directly to the EU itself. The outbreak of COVID-19 in Libya - and specifically in the migrant detention centres - is a certainty, and indeed may very well have occurred already. The duty of the state to its citizens versus its duty to non-citizens has been debated for millennia in every part of the world. No easy or clear answers have been found. Now the EU must ask itself the same question; what is the duty of the EU to the citizens of the Union? This is a political debate, one that will shape the future of Europe. The EU would be best served by having it now, before the inevitable outbreak in Libya occurs.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em><a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.linkedin.com//in//niall-mcglynn///" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Niall McGlynn<\/a> studied International Relations and History at Leiden University and Trinity College Dublin. He is currently an independent scholar and policy professional based in Ireland.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>____________<\/p>\n<p>Are you a recognised expert in your field? At Euronews, we believe all views matter. Contact us at <a href=https://www.euronews.com/news/africa/\"mailto:view@euronews.com\">view@euronews.com to send pitches or submissions and be part of the conversation.<\/p>\n","hashtag":null,"createdAt":1587040501,"updatedAt":1723539856,"publishedAt":1587042313,"firstPublishedAt":1587042338,"lastPublishedAt":1587042418,"expiresAt":0,"images":[{"url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/63\/56\/26\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_c7f5bce1-6db0-50d7-9561-53c309d22a55-4635626.jpg","altText":"Men who were rescued off the Libyan coast, watch the city of Messina from the deck of the Open Arms rescue vessel as the ship enters the port located on the island of Sicily","caption":"Men who were rescued off the Libyan coast, watch the city of Messina from the deck of the Open Arms rescue vessel as the ship enters the port located on the island of Sicily","captionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"Santi Palacios\/AP Photo","sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"callToActionText":null,"width":1600,"height":900}],"authors":{"journalists":[],"producers":[],"videoEditor":[]},"keywords":[{"id":22526,"slug":"coronavirus","urlSafeValue":"coronavirus","title":"Coronavirus","titleRaw":"Coronavirus"},{"id":22728,"slug":"covid-19","urlSafeValue":"covid-19","title":"COVID-19","titleRaw":"COVID-19"},{"id":172,"slug":"libya","urlSafeValue":"libya","title":"Libya","titleRaw":"Libya"},{"id":13190,"slug":"migrants","urlSafeValue":"migrants","title":"Migrants","titleRaw":"Migrants"},{"id":13192,"slug":"refugee-camp","urlSafeValue":"refugee-camp","title":"Refugee camp","titleRaw":"Refugee camp"},{"id":105,"slug":"european-union","urlSafeValue":"european-union","title":"European Union","titleRaw":"European Union"},{"id":22480,"slug":"euroviews","urlSafeValue":"euroviews","title":"Euroviews","titleRaw":"Euroviews"}],"widgets":[{"slug":"quotation","count":3}],"related":[{"id":1079164},{"id":1168254}],"technicalTags":[],"externalPartners":[],"hasExternalVideo":0,"hasInternalOrExternalVideo":0,"video":0,"videos":[],"liveStream":[{"startDate":0,"endDate":0}],"scribbleLiveId":0,"scribbleLiveRibbon":0,"isLiveCoverage":0,"sourceId":1,"sources":[],"externalSource":null,"additionalSources":"","additionalReporting":"Niall McGlynn","freeField1":null,"freeField2":"","type":"normal","displayType":"default","program":{"id":"world","urlSafeValue":"world","title":"World News","online":1,"url":"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/programs\/world"},"season":"","episode":"","episodeId":"","vertical":"news","verticals":[{"id":1,"slug":"news","urlSafeValue":"news","title":"News"}],"primaryVertical":{"id":1,"slug":"news","urlSafeValue":"news","title":"News"},"themes":[{"id":"news","urlSafeValue":"news","title":"World","url":"\/news\/international"}],"primaryTheme":{"id":1,"urlSafeValue":"news","title":"World"},"advertising":0,"advertisingData":{"startDate":0,"endDate":0,"type":null,"slug":null,"title":null,"disclaimerLabelKey":null,"sponsor":null,"sponsorName":null,"sponsorUrl":null,"sponsorLogo":"","sponsorLogoReverse":"","isDfp":0},"geoLocation":{"lat":0,"lon":0},"location":1,"continent":{"id":3,"urlSafeValue":"africa","title":"Africa"},"country":{"id":172,"urlSafeValue":"libya","title":"Libya","url":"\/news\/africa\/libya"},"town":[],"contextualSignals":{"doubleVerify":{"ids":[],"slugs":[]}},"grapeshot":"'neg_nespresso','neg_facebook_2021','gs_covid19','neg_mobkoi_castrol','neg_mobkoi_feb2021','pos_equinor','pos_facebook','pos_pmi','castrol_negative_uk','neg_saudiaramco','gt_negative','gs_health','gs_health_misc','neg_coronavirus','gs_politics','gs_politics_misc','gv_death_injury','gs_society_misc','gs_society','gt_negative_anger'","versions":[],"programDeliverable":{"slug":"sujet","format":"default"},"showOpinionDisclaimer":1,"allViews":0,"allViewsMeta":{"pointOfView":[],"survey":[],"tweetId":0,"tweet2NdId":0,"displayOverlay":0},"storyTranslationMethod":[],"localisation":[],"autoPublished":0,"autoLocalised":0,"isReviewed":0,"path":"\/2020\/04\/16\/ignoring-covid-19-cases-libya-migrant-centres-will-have-dire-consequences-for-europe-view","lastModified":1587042418},{"id":995694,"cid":4447560,"versionId":2,"archive":0,"housenumber":"200118_WBSU_10600903","owner":"euronews","isMagazine":0,"isBreakingNews":0,"daletEventName":"WEB: Libya explainer","daletPyramidId":null,"channels":[{"id":1},{"id":2},{"id":4},{"id":5},{"id":12}],"status":2,"title":"Civil war in Libya: Can peace talks in Berlin on Sunday bring an end to the conflict? ","titleSeo":null,"titleListing1":"Can peace talks in Berlin on Sunday end the civil war in Libya?","titleListing2":"Here's our explainer on the Libyan conflict and the peace talks taking place in Berlin on Sunday.","leadin":"Here's our explainer on the Libyan conflict and the peace talks taking place in Berlin on Sunday.","summary":"Here's our explainer on the Libyan conflict and the peace talks taking place in Berlin on Sunday.","keySentence":"","url":"civil-war-in-libya-can-peace-talks-in-berlin-on-sunday-bring-an-end-to-the-conflict","canonical":"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/2020\/01\/19\/civil-war-in-libya-can-peace-talks-in-berlin-on-sunday-bring-an-end-to-the-conflict","masterCms":"v2","plainText":"European leaders are hoping that a summit in Berlin on Sunday can bring an end to the latest round of fighting in the Libyan civil war. \n\nThe talks are expected to bring together the two main parties in the conflict: Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj, who heads the UN-recognised government in Tripoli, and General Khalifa Haftar, based in the eastern city of Benghazi. \n\nHaftar began an offensive against Tripoli in July 2019, and over the last nine months at least 2,000 soldiers and over 200 civilians have been killed. But Haftar\u2019s strike was met with stronger-than-expected opposition from Libyan government forces. \n\nOn January 12, a ceasefire was brokered between the two parties during talks in Moscow, with details to be hammered out the following day. However, Haftar left Moscow before the talks could be restarted, believing a power-sharing deal with Serraj was effectively a defeat. \n\nAs a result, Haftar and Serraj go into the talks on January 19 as intransigent as ever. \n\nHow did we get here? \n\nEver since the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, Libya has been riven by fighting between tribal groups, militias and Islamists, including extremists from the so-called Islamic State militant group (IS) and other jihadi groups based in the country\u2019s lawless desert regions. \n\nThe chaos has allowed people-smuggling gangs to use Libya as a base for sending refugees and migrants across the Meditteranean to Italy, and the horrific conditions experienced by migrants in Libyan detention centres has attracted worldwide attention. \n\nDespite an arms embargo since 2011, numerous countries have been accused of arming various parties in Libya\u2019s long and complex civil war. Most recently Turkey, which agreed to send troops in to back the government in Tripoli against Haftar on January 2. \n\nWho is backing who? \n\nUN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned earlier this week against \u201cexternal influence\u201d in Libya, but a simple rundown of the myriad international actors in that north African nation\u2019s bloody civil war suggests firmly that that particular ship has sailed. \n\nThe coalition of nations lined up behind Haftar and his Libyan National Army (LNA) include Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Russia, as well as France. \n\nHaftar has increasingly demonstrated his willingness to be all things to all people and has appealed to French interests due to his fervent opposition to Islamist forces in north Africa and his much-vaunted efforts to tackle IS influence in Libya. \n\nSaudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt \u2014 all fighting their own battles against both political Islam and Islamist extremism \u2014 see Haftar as a safe pair of hands, while viewing his strongman leadership style as a check on democratic forces in Libya as well as in their own countries. \n\nLastly, Haftar\u2019s support in both Riyadh in Cairo has been noticed in Washington, which has not yet taken a side on the conflict. Soon after the beginning of his April offensive on Tripoli, Haftar had a telephone conversation with National Security Adviser John Bolton. \n\nTurkey and Qatar, meanwhile, back the Sarraj government in Tripoli. Speaking on Saturday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called Haftar a \u201cwarlord\u201d and \u201ccoup-plotter\u201d and warned Europe that not backing Sarraj would be a mistake \u201cof historic proportions\u201d. \n\nWill it work? \n\nSarraj has claimed as recently as Friday that he believes Haftar has no intention of agreeing to a ceasefire and is using the talks as space while he re-groups for a renewed strike on the capital. Haftar meanwhile has only agreed to attend the talks \u201cin principle\u201d. \n\nHaftar walked away from peace talks in Moscow on Monday, and although Turkey and Moscow brokered a ceasefire a week ago, there have been reports of renewed fighting. \n\nThe difficulty for the peace brokers is not only that so many international players have a dog in the fight in Libya, but that the aspirations of both major parties can\u2019t help but clash. Haftar wants nothing less than total control of Libya, something Sarraj could never accept. \n\nBarah Mikail, director of Stractegia Consulting, said that the summit is unlikely to lead to an end to the fighting, given that international players are so entrenched in the conflict. \n\n\u201cThere are few chances the Berlin talks lead to a concrete and durable ceasefire: the UAE, Egypt and Turkey, in particular, seem to have no intention of backing out when it comes to the financial and military support they give to their respective allies on the ground,\u201d he said. \n\nMeanwhile, there is a stark polarisation between those loyal to the government and those backing Haftar. \n\n\u201cA proxy war prevails with many foreign actors engaged on the ground,\u201d said Mikail. \u201cIn this context, everyone feels they have to take sides.\u201d \n\nWhat\u2019s Europe\u2019s role? \n\nTwo of Europe\u2019s key concerns in the country have been migration and terrorism with the argument that a stable Libya is less likely to provide a haven for smuggling gangs or safe-haven for Islamist militants just a short distance from European shores. \n\nBut securing peace in Libya would also be a diplomatic coup for Europe, especially in the face of Turkish and Russian diplomacy, argued Tarek Megerisi in an article for the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) on 16 January. \n\n\u201cEurope retains an authority over the diplomatic space that it can confer on any future settlement. It should not under-appreciate this power to legitimise during the Berlin conference and what comes afterwards,\u201d he said. \n\nA failure to act, he said, would be to allow \u201cother, more decisive, actors onto the field\u201d, allowing Russia and Turkey to achieve a foreign policy \"win\" that would play to their geopolitical interests in Europe\u2019s backyard. \n\nThe problem is that on Libya, Europe is divided. France has thrown its lot in with Haftar, Italy has failed to take either side and so alienated itself with both, Greece \u2014 as recently as Friday \u2014 has moved closer to Haftar in the face of Sarraj\u2019s closeness to Turkey. \n\n\u201cRepairing Europe\u2019s credibility, and its role in proceedings may be a long road. But if Europe does not start to more assertively pursue stability and use the tools at its disposal then it will be cut adrift,\u201d Megerisi wrote. \n\n","htmlText":"<p>European leaders are hoping that a summit in Berlin on Sunday can bring an end to the latest round of fighting in the Libyan civil war.<\/p>\n<p>The talks are expected to bring together the two main parties in the conflict: Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj, who heads the UN-recognised government in Tripoli, and General Khalifa Haftar, based in the eastern city of Benghazi.<\/p>\n<p>Haftar began an offensive against Tripoli in July 2019, and over the last nine months at least 2,000 soldiers and over 200 civilians have been killed. But Haftar\u2019s strike was met with stronger-than-expected opposition from Libyan government forces.<\/p>\n<p>On January 12, a ceasefire was brokered between the two parties during talks in Moscow, with details to be hammered out the following day. However, Haftar left Moscow before the talks could be restarted, believing a power-sharing deal with Serraj was effectively a defeat.<\/p>\n<p>As a result, Haftar and Serraj go into the talks on January 19 as intransigent as ever.<\/p>\n<h2>How did we get here?<\/h2>\n<p>Ever since the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, Libya has been riven by fighting between tribal groups, militias and Islamists, including extremists from the so-called Islamic State militant group (IS) and other jihadi groups based in the country\u2019s lawless desert regions.<\/p>\n<p>The chaos has allowed people-smuggling gangs to use Libya as a base for sending refugees and migrants across the Meditteranean to Italy, and the horrific conditions experienced by migrants in Libyan detention centres has attracted worldwide attention.<\/p>\n<p>Despite an arms embargo since 2011, numerous countries have been accused of arming various parties in Libya\u2019s long and complex civil war. Most recently Turkey, which agreed to send troops in to back the government in Tripoli against Haftar on January 2.<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-image widget--size-fullwidth widget--animation-fade-in widget--align-center\" data-ratio=\"0.6666666666666666\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio--auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <figure class=\"widget__figure\">\n <img class=\"widgetImage__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////static.euronews.com//articles//stories//04//44//75//60//808x539_cmsv2_2d4611d7-c3fc-5ec0-8576-39b538ce76b9-4447560.jpg/" alt=\"Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/44\/75\/60\/384x256_cmsv2_2d4611d7-c3fc-5ec0-8576-39b538ce76b9-4447560.jpg 384w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/44\/75\/60\/640x427_cmsv2_2d4611d7-c3fc-5ec0-8576-39b538ce76b9-4447560.jpg 640w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/44\/75\/60\/750x500_cmsv2_2d4611d7-c3fc-5ec0-8576-39b538ce76b9-4447560.jpg 750w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/44\/75\/60\/828x552_cmsv2_2d4611d7-c3fc-5ec0-8576-39b538ce76b9-4447560.jpg 828w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/44\/75\/60\/1080x720_cmsv2_2d4611d7-c3fc-5ec0-8576-39b538ce76b9-4447560.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/44\/75\/60\/1200x800_cmsv2_2d4611d7-c3fc-5ec0-8576-39b538ce76b9-4447560.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/44\/75\/60\/1920x1280_cmsv2_2d4611d7-c3fc-5ec0-8576-39b538ce76b9-4447560.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 95vw, (max-width: 1024px) 80vw, (max-width: 1280px) 55vw, 728px\"\/>\n <figcaption class=\"widget__caption\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionWrap\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionText\">Libyan Gen. Khalifa Hifter, right, accompanied by the Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias leaves after their meeting in Athens, Friday, Jan. 17, 2020.<\/span>\n <span class=\"widget__captionCredit\">Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved<\/span>\n <span class=\"widget__sourceLink\">Thanassis Stavrakis<\/span>\n <\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<h2>Who is backing who?<\/h2>\n<p>UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned earlier this week against \u201cexternal influence\u201d in Libya, but a simple rundown of the myriad international actors in that north African nation\u2019s bloody civil war suggests firmly that that particular ship has sailed.<\/p>\n<p>The coalition of nations lined up behind Haftar and his Libyan National Army (LNA) include Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Russia, as well as France.<\/p>\n<p>Haftar has increasingly demonstrated his willingness to be all things to all people and has appealed to French interests due to his fervent opposition to Islamist forces in north Africa and his much-vaunted efforts to tackle IS influence in Libya.<\/p>\n<p>Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt \u2014 all fighting their own battles against both political Islam and Islamist extremism \u2014 see Haftar as a safe pair of hands, while viewing his strongman leadership style as a check on democratic forces in Libya as well as in their own countries.<\/p>\n<p>Lastly, Haftar\u2019s support in both Riyadh in Cairo has been noticed in Washington, which has not yet taken a side on the conflict. Soon after the beginning of his April offensive on Tripoli, Haftar had a telephone conversation with National Security Adviser John Bolton.<\/p>\n<p>Turkey and Qatar, meanwhile, back the Sarraj government in Tripoli. Speaking on Saturday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called Haftar a \u201cwarlord\u201d and \u201ccoup-plotter\u201d and warned Europe that not backing Sarraj would be a mistake \u201cof historic proportions\u201d.<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-image widget--size-fullwidth widget--animation-fade-in widget--align-center\" data-ratio=\"0.6666666666666666\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio--auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <figure class=\"widget__figure\">\n <img class=\"widgetImage__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////static.euronews.com//articles//stories//04//44//75//60//808x539_cmsv2_6f6b86a9-4c0f-5ed6-9899-60fc313343eb-4447560.jpg/" alt=\"(AP Photo\/Gregorio Borgia)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/44\/75\/60\/384x256_cmsv2_6f6b86a9-4c0f-5ed6-9899-60fc313343eb-4447560.jpg 384w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/44\/75\/60\/640x427_cmsv2_6f6b86a9-4c0f-5ed6-9899-60fc313343eb-4447560.jpg 640w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/44\/75\/60\/750x500_cmsv2_6f6b86a9-4c0f-5ed6-9899-60fc313343eb-4447560.jpg 750w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/44\/75\/60\/828x552_cmsv2_6f6b86a9-4c0f-5ed6-9899-60fc313343eb-4447560.jpg 828w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/44\/75\/60\/1080x720_cmsv2_6f6b86a9-4c0f-5ed6-9899-60fc313343eb-4447560.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/44\/75\/60\/1200x800_cmsv2_6f6b86a9-4c0f-5ed6-9899-60fc313343eb-4447560.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/44\/75\/60\/1920x1280_cmsv2_6f6b86a9-4c0f-5ed6-9899-60fc313343eb-4447560.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 95vw, (max-width: 1024px) 80vw, (max-width: 1280px) 55vw, 728px\"\/>\n <figcaption class=\"widget__caption\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionWrap\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionText\">Libya's Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj holds a press conference after his meeting with Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte at Chigi palace, in Rome, Saturday, Jan. 11, 2020.<\/span>\n <span class=\"widget__captionCredit\">(AP Photo\/Gregorio Borgia)<\/span>\n <\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<h2>Will it work?<\/h2>\n<p>Sarraj has claimed as recently as Friday that he believes Haftar has no intention of agreeing to a ceasefire and is using the talks as space while he re-groups for a renewed strike on the capital. Haftar meanwhile has only agreed to attend the talks \u201cin principle\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Haftar walked away from peace talks in Moscow on Monday, and although Turkey and Moscow brokered a ceasefire a week ago, there have been reports of renewed fighting.<\/p>\n<p>The difficulty for the peace brokers is not only that so many international players have a dog in the fight in Libya, but that the aspirations of both major parties can\u2019t help but clash. Haftar wants nothing less than total control of Libya, something Sarraj could never accept.<\/p>\n<p>Barah Mikail, director of Stractegia Consulting, said that the summit is unlikely to lead to an end to the fighting, given that international players are so entrenched in the conflict.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are few chances the Berlin talks lead to a concrete and durable ceasefire: the UAE, Egypt and Turkey, in particular, seem to have no intention of backing out when it comes to the financial and military support they give to their respective allies on the ground,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, there is a stark polarisation between those loyal to the government and those backing Haftar.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA proxy war prevails with many foreign actors engaged on the ground,\u201d said Mikail. \u201cIn this context, everyone feels they have to take sides.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>What\u2019s Europe\u2019s role?<\/h2>\n<p>Two of Europe\u2019s key concerns in the country have been migration and terrorism with the argument that a stable Libya is less likely to provide a haven for smuggling gangs or safe-haven for Islamist militants just a short distance from European shores.<\/p>\n<p>But securing peace in Libya would also be a diplomatic coup for Europe, especially in the face of Turkish and Russian diplomacy, argued Tarek Megerisi in an article for the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) on 16 January.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEurope retains an authority over the diplomatic space that it can confer on any future settlement. It should not under-appreciate this power to legitimise during the Berlin conference and what comes afterwards,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>A failure to act, he said, would be to allow \u201cother, more decisive, actors onto the field\u201d, allowing Russia and Turkey to achieve a foreign policy \"win\" that would play to their geopolitical interests in Europe\u2019s backyard.<\/p>\n<p>The problem is that on Libya, Europe is divided. France has thrown its lot in with Haftar, Italy has failed to take either side and so alienated itself with both, Greece \u2014 as recently as Friday \u2014 has moved closer to Haftar in the face of Sarraj\u2019s closeness to Turkey.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRepairing Europe\u2019s credibility, and its role in proceedings may be a long road. But if Europe does not start to more assertively pursue stability and use the tools at its disposal then it will be cut adrift,\u201d Megerisi wrote.<\/p>\n","hashtag":null,"createdAt":1579355949,"updatedAt":1723539856,"publishedAt":1579417201,"firstPublishedAt":1579363042,"lastPublishedAt":1579419444,"expiresAt":0,"images":[{"url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/44\/26\/96\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_9445a57a-d752-5780-94cf-c73396796cfd-4442696.jpg","altText":"In this April 19, 2019 file photo, protesters wear yellow vests at a protest as they wave national flags and chant slogans against Libya's Field Marshal Khalifa Hafter","caption":"In this April 19, 2019 file photo, protesters wear yellow vests at a protest as they wave national flags and chant slogans against Libya's Field Marshal Khalifa Hafter","captionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"(AP Photo\/Hazem Ahmed, File)","sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":"Hazem Ahmed","callToActionUrl":null,"callToActionText":null,"width":5760,"height":3840},{"url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/44\/75\/60\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_6f6b86a9-4c0f-5ed6-9899-60fc313343eb-4447560.jpg","altText":"Libya's Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj holds a press conference after his meeting with Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte at Chigi palace, in Rome, Saturday, Jan. 11, 2020.","caption":"Libya's Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj holds a press conference after his meeting with Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte at Chigi palace, in Rome, Saturday, Jan. 11, 2020.","captionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"(AP Photo\/Gregorio Borgia)","sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"callToActionText":null,"width":3150,"height":2100},{"url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/44\/75\/60\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_2d4611d7-c3fc-5ec0-8576-39b538ce76b9-4447560.jpg","altText":"Libyan Gen. Khalifa Hifter, right, accompanied by the Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias leaves after their meeting in Athens, Friday, Jan. 17, 2020. ","caption":"Libyan Gen. Khalifa Hifter, right, accompanied by the Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias leaves after their meeting in Athens, Friday, Jan. 17, 2020. ","captionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved","sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":"Thanassis Stavrakis","callToActionUrl":null,"callToActionText":null,"width":5472,"height":3648}],"authors":{"journalists":[{"id":1922,"urlSafeValue":"crowcroft","title":"Orlando Crowcroft","twitter":null}],"producers":[],"videoEditor":[]},"keywords":[{"id":172,"slug":"libya","urlSafeValue":"libya","title":"Libya","titleRaw":"Libya"},{"id":14820,"slug":"khalifa-haftar","urlSafeValue":"khalifa-haftar","title":"Khalifa Haftar","titleRaw":"Khalifa Haftar"},{"id":22244,"slug":"fayiz-el-serrac","urlSafeValue":"fayiz-el-serrac","title":"Fayez al-Sarraj","titleRaw":"Fayez al-Sarraj"}],"widgets":[{"slug":"image","count":2}],"related":[],"technicalTags":[],"externalPartners":[],"hasExternalVideo":0,"hasInternalOrExternalVideo":0,"video":0,"videos":[],"liveStream":[{"startDate":0,"endDate":0}],"scribbleLiveId":0,"scribbleLiveRibbon":0,"isLiveCoverage":0,"sourceId":1,"sources":[],"externalSource":null,"additionalSources":null,"additionalReporting":null,"freeField1":null,"freeField2":"","type":"normal","displayType":"default","program":{"id":"world","urlSafeValue":"world","title":"World News","online":1,"url":"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/programs\/world"},"season":"","episode":"","episodeId":"","vertical":"news","verticals":[{"id":1,"slug":"news","urlSafeValue":"news","title":"News"}],"primaryVertical":{"id":1,"slug":"news","urlSafeValue":"news","title":"News"},"themes":[{"id":"news","urlSafeValue":"news","title":"World","url":"\/news\/international"}],"primaryTheme":{"id":1,"urlSafeValue":"news","title":"World"},"advertising":0,"advertisingData":{"startDate":0,"endDate":0,"type":null,"slug":null,"title":null,"disclaimerLabelKey":null,"sponsor":null,"sponsorName":null,"sponsorUrl":null,"sponsorLogo":"","sponsorLogoReverse":"","isDfp":0},"geoLocation":{"lat":0,"lon":0},"location":1,"continent":{"id":3,"urlSafeValue":"africa","title":"Africa"},"country":{"id":172,"urlSafeValue":"libya","title":"Libya","url":"\/news\/africa\/libya"},"town":[],"contextualSignals":{"doubleVerify":{"ids":[],"slugs":[]}},"grapeshot":"'neg_facebook_2021','neg_nespresso','gs_politics','neg_mobkoi_castrol','gs_politics_misc','neg_saudiaramco','pos_equinor','pos_facebook','pos_pmi','sm_politics','castrol_negative_uk','neg_mobkoi_fb-weareonit_fs_28feb2019','gv_military','gv_terrorism','gt_negative','gt_negative_anger'","versions":[],"programDeliverable":{"slug":"sujet","format":"default"},"showOpinionDisclaimer":0,"allViews":0,"allViewsMeta":{"pointOfView":[],"survey":[],"tweetId":0,"tweet2NdId":0,"displayOverlay":0},"storyTranslationMethod":[],"localisation":[],"autoPublished":0,"autoLocalised":0,"isReviewed":0,"path":"\/2020\/01\/19\/civil-war-in-libya-can-peace-talks-in-berlin-on-sunday-bring-an-end-to-the-conflict","lastModified":1579419444},{"id":990188,"cid":4436508,"versionId":5,"archive":0,"housenumber":"200113_WBSU_10531640","owner":"euronews","isMagazine":0,"isBreakingNews":0,"daletEventName":"Libya meeting Moscow","daletPyramidId":null,"channels":[{"id":1},{"id":2},{"id":4},{"id":5},{"id":12}],"status":2,"title":"Libyan rivals Sarraj and Haftar leave Moscow without signing ceasefire deal","titleSeo":null,"titleListing1":"Libyan rivals leave Moscow without signing ceasefire deal","titleListing2":"Libya's rival leaders have left Moscow without reaching an agreement on a ceasefire deal brokered by Russia and Turkey ","leadin":"The commander of the Libyan National Army (LNA) Khalifa Haftar and the Government of National Accord (GNA) Prime Minister Fayez Sarraj left Moscow on Tuesday without reaching an agreement on a ceasefire deal proposed by Russia and Turkey.","summary":"The commander of the Libyan National Army (LNA) Khalifa Haftar and the Government of National Accord (GNA) Prime Minister Fayez Sarraj left Moscow on Tuesday without reaching an agreement on a ceasefire deal proposed by Russia and Turkey.","keySentence":"","url":"libyan-rivals-to-meet-in-moscow-to-sign-ceasefire-deal","canonical":"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/2020\/01\/13\/libyan-rivals-to-meet-in-moscow-to-sign-ceasefire-deal","masterCms":"v2","plainText":"Libya's rival leaders have left Moscow without reaching agreement on a ceasefire deal proposed by Russia and Turkey in an effort to bring an end to the country's long-running civil war. \n\nFayez Sarraj, the head of Libya's UN-recognised government in Tripoli, and General Khalifa Haftar - the power behind the eastern government - came to Moscow on Monday to discuss a truce hosted by Russian and Turkish officials. \n\nThe talks lasted about seven hours, but Sarraj and Haftar didn't meet directly. \n\nAfter the meetings, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, announced that Sarraj signed the draft document spelling out the details of the proposed ceasefire deal, while Haftar requested more time to consider it. \n\nOn Tuesday morning, Russian Foreign Ministry said that Haftar left Moscow without signing the deal. Russian news agencies reported Tuesday that Sarraj had also left. \n\nLavrov said that efforts to broker a peace deal will continue. \"We all work in the same direction and urge all the sides (of the conflict) in Libya to negotiate instead of trying to sort things out violently,'' the minister said Tuesday. \n\nBerlin peace conference \n\nTripoli-based official Khaled al-Mashri told Libya Al-Ahrar TV that Haftar asked for four days to consider various sticking points in the ceasefire deal. He said he expects invitations to a peace conference in Berlin to follow later this week. \n\nThe negotiations followed a truce proposed by Russia and Turkey that began Sunday, the first break in fighting in months. There were immediate reports of violations by both sides, however, raising concerns it might not hold. \n\nLibya plunged into turmoil after the 2011 civil war that ousted and killed longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi. The conflict had been on the brink of a major escalation. Various foreign players back Libya's rival governments, and they have recently been stepping up their involvement in the oil-rich nation's conflict. \n\nREAD MORE: Who are the Russian mercenaries waging war in Libya? \n\nREAD MORE: Turkish MPs back sending troops to Libya to support UN-backed government \n\nREAD MORE: What are the implications of Turkey's military pledge to Libya? | Euronews answers \n\nRussian-Turkish mediation \n\nTurkey and Russia back the opposing governments in Libya. Their negotiations follow deals struck by the two nations to coordinate their action also in Syria, where Moscow has shored up President Bashar Assad's government and Ankara has backed his foes. \n\nAhead of the Moscow meeting, expert Barah Mikail, director of Stractegia Consulting and Associate Professor at Saint Louis University in Madrid noted that the talks highlighted the influence of Russia and Turkey in the Libya conflict. \n\n\"Russia and Turkey have leverage on Khalifa Haftar and Fayez Sarraj respectively,\" Mikail said, noting that it is at these two countries' request that Haftar and Sarraj were headed to Moscow. \n\nBut according to the expert, the chances of success of this mediation were slim. And indeed proved to be so on this occasion.\u00a0 \n\n\"Each of the protagonists is sticking to its guns and the conditions for peace and a negotiated solution are far from being met. Thus, if there is a ceasefire, I very much doubt that it can hold in the long term on the ground,\" the expert told Euronews. \n\n\"We shall, therefore, be extremely cautious about the possible chances of success of this Turkish-Russian mediation in the long term,\" Mikail said. \n\nREAD MORE on Libya's conflict and how it affects oil prices \n\n","htmlText":"<p>Libya's rival leaders have left Moscow without reaching agreement on a ceasefire deal proposed by Russia and Turkey in an effort to bring an end to the country's long-running civil war.<\/p>\n<p>Fayez Sarraj, the head of Libya's UN-recognised government in Tripoli, and General Khalifa Haftar - the power behind the eastern government - came to Moscow on Monday to discuss a truce hosted by Russian and Turkish officials.<\/p>\n<p>The talks lasted about seven hours, but Sarraj and Haftar didn't meet directly.<\/p>\n<p>After the meetings, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, announced that Sarraj signed the draft document spelling out the details of the proposed ceasefire deal, while Haftar requested more time to consider it.<\/p>\n<p>On Tuesday morning, Russian Foreign Ministry said that Haftar left Moscow without signing the deal. Russian news agencies reported Tuesday that Sarraj had also left.<\/p>\n<p>Lavrov said that efforts to broker a peace deal will continue. \"We all work in the same direction and urge all the sides (of the conflict) in Libya to negotiate instead of trying to sort things out violently,'' the minister said Tuesday.<\/p>\n<h2>Berlin peace conference<\/h2>\n<p>Tripoli-based official Khaled al-Mashri told Libya Al-Ahrar TV that Haftar asked for four days to consider various sticking points in the ceasefire deal. He said he expects invitations to a peace conference in Berlin to follow later this week.<\/p>\n<p>The negotiations followed a truce proposed by Russia and Turkey that began Sunday, the first break in fighting in months. There were immediate reports of violations by both sides, however, raising concerns it might not hold.<\/p>\n<p>Libya plunged into turmoil after the 2011 civil war that ousted and killed longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi. The conflict had been on the brink of a major escalation. Various foreign players back Libya's rival governments, and they have recently been stepping up their involvement in the oil-rich nation's conflict.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.euronews.com//2019//12//18//who-are-the-russian-mercenaries-waging-war-in-libya/">READ MORE: Who are the Russian mercenaries waging war in Libya?<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.euronews.com//2020//01//02//turkish-mps-back-sending-troops-to-libya-to-support-un-backed-government/">READ MORE: Turkish MPs back sending troops to Libya to support UN-backed government<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>[READ MORE: What are the implications of Turkey's military pledge to Libya? | Euronews answers](What are the implications of Turkey's military pledge to Libya? | Euronews answers)<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2>Russian-Turkish mediation<\/h2>\n<p>Turkey and Russia back the opposing governments in Libya. Their negotiations follow deals struck by the two nations to coordinate their action also in Syria, where Moscow has shored up President Bashar Assad's government and Ankara has backed his foes.<\/p>\n<p>Ahead of the Moscow meeting, expert Barah Mikail, director of Stractegia Consulting and Associate Professor at Saint Louis University in Madrid noted that the talks highlighted the influence of Russia and Turkey in the Libya conflict.<\/p>\n<p>\"Russia and Turkey have leverage on Khalifa Haftar and Fayez Sarraj respectively,\" Mikail said, noting that it is at these two countries' request that Haftar and Sarraj were headed to Moscow.<\/p>\n<p>But according to the expert, the chances of success of this mediation were slim. And indeed proved to be so on this occasion.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\"Each of the protagonists is sticking to its guns and the conditions for peace and a negotiated solution are far from being met. Thus, if there is a ceasefire, I very much doubt that it can hold in the long term on the ground,\" the expert told Euronews.<\/p>\n<p>\"We shall, therefore, be extremely cautious about the possible chances of success of this Turkish-Russian mediation in the long term,\" Mikail said.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.euronews.com//2019//05//03//oil-prices-libyan-tensions-and-everyday-petrol-how-is-the-eu-affected/">READ MORE on Libya's conflict and how it affects oil prices<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","hashtag":null,"createdAt":1578895468,"updatedAt":1723539856,"publishedAt":1578898445,"firstPublishedAt":1578898448,"lastPublishedAt":1579005072,"expiresAt":0,"images":[{"url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/34\/04\/64\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_5949f33a-70d9-5a80-b955-ab3d30b2f698-4340464.jpg","altText":"FILE PHOTO: Tripoli government forces look on during clashes with forces led by Field Marshal Khalifa Hifter south of the capital Tripoli, Libya on Tuesday, May 21, 2019. ","caption":"FILE PHOTO: Tripoli government forces look on during clashes with forces led by Field Marshal Khalifa Hifter south of the capital Tripoli, Libya on Tuesday, May 21, 2019. ","captionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"AP Photo\/Hazem Ahmed","sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"callToActionText":null,"width":3300,"height":2219}],"authors":{"journalists":[],"producers":[],"videoEditor":[]},"keywords":[{"id":22368,"slug":"civil-war-in-libya","urlSafeValue":"civil-war-in-libya","title":"civil war in Libya","titleRaw":"civil war in Libya"},{"id":239,"slug":"russia","urlSafeValue":"russia","title":"Russia","titleRaw":"Russia"},{"id":22354,"slug":"motion-to-send-turkish-troops-to-libya","urlSafeValue":"motion-to-send-turkish-troops-to-libya","title":"Motion to send Turkish troops to Libya","titleRaw":"Motion to send Turkish troops to Libya"},{"id":172,"slug":"libya","urlSafeValue":"libya","title":"Libya","titleRaw":"Libya"}],"widgets":[],"related":[{"id":994616}],"technicalTags":[],"externalPartners":{"youtubeId":"FsgRZtOd6hI","dailymotionId":"x7qj9hy"},"hasExternalVideo":1,"hasInternalOrExternalVideo":1,"video":1,"videos":[{"format":"mp4","quality":"md","type":"normal","url":"https:\/\/video.euronews.com\/mp4\/med\/EN\/WB\/SU\/20\/01\/13\/en\/200113_WBSU_10531640_10531646_34000_132012_en.mp4","editor":"","duration":34000,"filesizeBytes":3111733,"expiresAt":0}],"liveStream":[{"startDate":0,"endDate":0}],"scribbleLiveId":0,"scribbleLiveRibbon":0,"isLiveCoverage":0,"sourceId":1,"sources":[],"externalSource":null,"additionalSources":"","additionalReporting":"Euronews with AFP, AP","freeField1":null,"freeField2":"","type":"normal","displayType":"default","program":{"id":"world","urlSafeValue":"world","title":"World News","online":1,"url":"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/programs\/world"},"season":"","episode":"","episodeId":"","vertical":"news","verticals":[{"id":1,"slug":"news","urlSafeValue":"news","title":"News"}],"primaryVertical":{"id":1,"slug":"news","urlSafeValue":"news","title":"News"},"themes":[{"id":"news","urlSafeValue":"news","title":"World","url":"\/news\/international"}],"primaryTheme":{"id":1,"urlSafeValue":"news","title":"World"},"advertising":0,"advertisingData":{"startDate":0,"endDate":0,"type":null,"slug":null,"title":null,"disclaimerLabelKey":null,"sponsor":null,"sponsorName":null,"sponsorUrl":null,"sponsorLogo":"","sponsorLogoReverse":"","isDfp":0},"geoLocation":{"lat":0,"lon":0},"location":1,"continent":{"id":3,"urlSafeValue":"africa","title":"Africa"},"country":{"id":172,"urlSafeValue":"libya","title":"Libya","url":"\/news\/africa\/libya"},"town":[],"contextualSignals":{"doubleVerify":{"ids":[],"slugs":[]}},"grapeshot":"'neg_facebook_2021','neg_mobkoi_castrol','gs_politics','castrol_negative_uk','sm_politics','pos_equinor','pos_facebook','pos_pmi','neg_nespresso','gs_politics_misc','gv_military','neg_facebook_neg1','neg_saudiaramco','gt_negative','gt_negative_anger'","versions":[],"programDeliverable":{"slug":"sujet","format":"default"},"showOpinionDisclaimer":0,"allViews":0,"allViewsMeta":{"pointOfView":[],"survey":[],"tweetId":0,"tweet2NdId":0,"displayOverlay":0},"storyTranslationMethod":[],"localisation":[],"autoPublished":0,"autoLocalised":0,"isReviewed":0,"path":"\/2020\/01\/13\/libyan-rivals-to-meet-in-moscow-to-sign-ceasefire-deal","lastModified":1579005072},{"id":989312,"cid":4434016,"versionId":2,"archive":0,"housenumber":"200112_NWSU_10525472","owner":"euronews","isMagazine":0,"isBreakingNews":0,"daletEventName":"LIBYA CEASEFIRE","daletPyramidId":null,"channels":[{"id":1},{"id":2},{"id":4},{"id":5},{"id":12}],"status":2,"title":"Tripoli accuses rivals of breaking conditional ceasefire minutes after it takes effect","titleSeo":null,"titleListing1":"Tripoli accuses rivals of breaking conditional ceasefire in Libya","titleListing2":"The UN-supported government in Libya accused their rivals of breaking a ceasefire minutes after it was supposed to take effect.","leadin":"The ceasefire took effect early on Sunday and if it holds, it will mark the first break in fighting in months.","summary":"The ceasefire took effect early on Sunday and if it holds, it will mark the first break in fighting in months.","keySentence":"","url":"government-in-tripoli-accuses-rivals-of-breaking-conditional-ceasefire-minutes-after-it-ta","canonical":"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/2020\/01\/12\/government-in-tripoli-accuses-rivals-of-breaking-conditional-ceasefire-minutes-after-it-ta","masterCms":"v2","plainText":"The UN-backed Libyan government accused rivals of breaking a ceasefire minutes after it was supposed to take effect, stating if it happened again they would respond violently. \n\nThe agreement between Libya's warring eastern and western administrations, if it holds, would mark the first break in fighting in months. \n\nA spokesman for the Libyan Arab Armed Forces, who fight for the eastern authorities, said that the ceasefire took effect early on Sunday, warning that any violations of the ceasefire from the opposing side would be dealt with \"severely\". \n\nBut the UN-backed prime minister of the western government, Fayez Sarraj, conditioned the armistice on rival forces withdrawing from the outskirts of Tripoli - indicating hostilities could continue if this does not happen. It is not yet clear if Khalifa Haftar, head of the Libyan Arab Armed Forces, will agree to remove his forces from the capital. \n\nSince Haftar's forces launched an offensive in Tripoli in April there have been international efforts to try to contain the crisis. \n\nLibya is governed by duelling authorities, one based in the east which is backed by Haftar and one in Tripoli in the west, led by Sarraj. \n\nThe eastern administration is supported by the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, France and Russia while the western government is backed by Turkey, Qatar and Italy. \n\nEarlier this week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russia's leader Vladimir Putin released a joint statement calling for a January 12th truce. \n\nThis came after Europe launched a diplomatic campaign to try to prevent Libya from becoming a second Syria. Along with the UN, European powers have called for a peace summit to happen in Berlin early this year to bring together the leaders of the rival governments. \n\nRussia and Turkey have been accused of inflaming the conflict by giving military aid to its respective parties. \n\n","htmlText":"<p>The UN-backed Libyan government accused rivals of breaking a ceasefire minutes after it was supposed to take effect, stating if it happened again they would respond violently.<\/p>\n<p>The agreement between Libya's warring eastern and western administrations, if it holds, would mark the first break in fighting in months.<\/p>\n<p>A spokesman for the Libyan Arab Armed Forces, who fight for the eastern authorities, said that the ceasefire took effect early on Sunday, warning that any violations of the ceasefire from the opposing side would be dealt with \"severely\".<\/p>\n<p>But the UN-backed prime minister of the western government, Fayez Sarraj, conditioned the armistice on rival forces withdrawing from the outskirts of Tripoli - indicating hostilities could continue if this does not happen. It is not yet clear if Khalifa Haftar, head of the Libyan Arab Armed Forces, will agree to remove his forces from the capital.<\/p>\n<p>Since Haftar's forces launched an offensive in Tripoli in April there have been international efforts to try to contain the crisis.<\/p>\n<p>Libya is governed by duelling authorities, one based in the east which is backed by Haftar and one in Tripoli in the west, led by Sarraj.<\/p>\n<p>The eastern administration is supported by the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, France and Russia while the western government is backed by Turkey, Qatar and Italy.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier this week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russia's leader Vladimir Putin released a joint statement calling for a January 12th truce.<\/p>\n<p>This came after Europe launched a diplomatic campaign to try to prevent Libya from becoming a second Syria. Along with the UN, European powers have called for a peace summit to happen in Berlin early this year to bring together the leaders of the rival governments.<\/p>\n<p>Russia and Turkey have been accused of inflaming the conflict by giving military aid to its respective parties.<\/p>\n","hashtag":null,"createdAt":1578786544,"updatedAt":1723539856,"publishedAt":1578829163,"firstPublishedAt":1578829166,"lastPublishedAt":1578829702,"expiresAt":0,"images":[{"url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/43\/40\/18\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_13121b17-105e-5485-b9c4-5d9f46ce6157-4434018.jpg","altText":null,"caption":null,"captionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"Ivan Sekretarev, AP","sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":"Ivan Sekretarev","callToActionUrl":null,"callToActionText":null,"width":2689,"height":1879}],"authors":{"journalists":[{"id":1810,"urlSafeValue":"lawrence","title":"Shea Lawrence","twitter":null}],"producers":[],"videoEditor":[]},"keywords":[{"id":172,"slug":"libya","urlSafeValue":"libya","title":"Libya","titleRaw":"Libya"},{"id":14820,"slug":"khalifa-haftar","urlSafeValue":"khalifa-haftar","title":"Khalifa Haftar","titleRaw":"Khalifa Haftar"},{"id":20861,"slug":"fayez-al-sarraj","urlSafeValue":"fayez-al-sarraj","title":"Fayez al-Sarraj","titleRaw":"Fayez al-Sarraj"}],"widgets":[],"related":[{"id":989100},{"id":984830},{"id":965600}],"technicalTags":[],"externalPartners":{"youtubeId":"jT5RhNW3-vc","dailymotionId":"x7qftc4"},"hasExternalVideo":1,"hasInternalOrExternalVideo":1,"video":1,"videos":[{"format":"mp4","quality":"md","type":"normal","url":"https:\/\/video.euronews.com\/mp4\/med\/EN\/NW\/SU\/20\/01\/12\/en\/200112_NWSU_10525472_10525552_70040_084306_en.mp4","editor":"","duration":70040,"filesizeBytes":7070890,"expiresAt":0}],"liveStream":[{"startDate":0,"endDate":0}],"scribbleLiveId":0,"scribbleLiveRibbon":0,"isLiveCoverage":0,"sourceId":1,"sources":[],"externalSource":"AP","additionalSources":"","additionalReporting":"","freeField1":null,"freeField2":"","type":"normal","displayType":"default","program":{"id":"world","urlSafeValue":"world","title":"World News","online":1,"url":"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/programs\/world"},"season":"","episode":"","episodeId":"","vertical":"news","verticals":[{"id":1,"slug":"news","urlSafeValue":"news","title":"News"}],"primaryVertical":{"id":1,"slug":"news","urlSafeValue":"news","title":"News"},"themes":[{"id":"news","urlSafeValue":"news","title":"World","url":"\/news\/international"}],"primaryTheme":{"id":1,"urlSafeValue":"news","title":"World"},"advertising":0,"advertisingData":{"startDate":0,"endDate":0,"type":null,"slug":null,"title":null,"disclaimerLabelKey":null,"sponsor":null,"sponsorName":null,"sponsorUrl":null,"sponsorLogo":"","sponsorLogoReverse":"","isDfp":0},"geoLocation":{"lat":0,"lon":0},"location":1,"continent":{"id":3,"urlSafeValue":"africa","title":"Africa"},"country":{"id":172,"urlSafeValue":"libya","title":"Libya","url":"\/news\/africa\/libya"},"town":[],"contextualSignals":{"doubleVerify":{"ids":[],"slugs":[]}},"grapeshot":"'gs_politics','gs_politics_misc','pos_equinor','pos_facebook','pos_pmi','sm_politics','gt_negative','neg_facebook_2021','neg_nespresso','gv_military','gt_negative_anger','neg_facebook','castrol_negative_uk','neg_facebook_neg1','neg_mobkoi_castrol','gt_negative_fear'","versions":[],"programDeliverable":{"slug":"sujet","format":"default"},"showOpinionDisclaimer":0,"allViews":0,"allViewsMeta":{"pointOfView":[],"survey":[],"tweetId":0,"tweet2NdId":0,"displayOverlay":0},"storyTranslationMethod":[],"localisation":[],"autoPublished":0,"autoLocalised":0,"isReviewed":0,"path":"\/2020\/01\/12\/government-in-tripoli-accuses-rivals-of-breaking-conditional-ceasefire-minutes-after-it-ta","lastModified":1578829702},{"id":965600,"cid":4374926,"versionId":1,"archive":0,"housenumber":"191218_WBSU_10275966","owner":"euronews","isMagazine":0,"isBreakingNews":0,"daletEventName":"WEB WAGNER GROUP LIBYA MERCENARIES","daletPyramidId":null,"channels":[{"id":1},{"id":2},{"id":4},{"id":5},{"id":12}],"status":2,"title":"Who are the Russian mercenaries waging war in Libya?","titleSeo":null,"titleListing1":"Who are the Russian mercenaries waging war in Libya?","titleListing2":"Wagner Group contractors are accused of fighting alongside General Khalifa Haftar, who along with the support of the United Arab Emirates and Egypt is laying siege to Tripoli.","leadin":"Wagner Group contractors are accused of fighting alongside General Khalifa Haftar, who along with the support of the United Arab Emirates and Egypt is laying siege to Tripoli.","summary":"Wagner Group contractors are accused of fighting alongside General Khalifa Haftar, who along with the support of the United Arab Emirates and Egypt is laying siege to Tripoli.","keySentence":"","url":"who-are-the-russian-mercenaries-waging-war-in-libya","canonical":"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/2019\/12\/18\/who-are-the-russian-mercenaries-waging-war-in-libya","masterCms":"v2","plainText":"Libya\u2019s Government of National Accord (GNA) has called out foreign interference in the country\u2019s civil war, claiming Russian mercenaries have been involved in the fighting. \n\nLibyan and US officials say those contract fighters are from a paramilitary organisation called the Wagner Group, which is associated with an oligarch close to Russian President Vladimir Putin. \n\nThe AP reports Wagner Group contractors are accused of fighting alongside General Khalifa Haftar, who along with the support of the United Arab Emirates and Egypt is laying siege to the internationally-recognised interim government in Tripoli. \n\nMoscow has repeatedly denied any direct involvement in the conflict but these mercenaries \"operate under the control of the Russian security services and military, and without a hint from the Kremlin, do not move,\" Pavel Felgenhauer, an analyst and editor at Novaya Gazeta, told Euronews. \n\nWhat is the Wagner Group? \n\nOne of a number of private military groups from Russia, the Wagner Group emerged out of the conflict in the Donbas in eastern Ukraine, when pro-Russian forces rose up against the Ukrainian government. \n\nPeople with ties to the Wagner group previously told Reuters news agency that it has carried out clandestine combat missions on the Kremlin\u2019s behalf in Ukraine and Syria. Russian authorities deny Wagner contractors carry out their orders. \n\nThe oligarch considered to be the head of the Wagner Group \u2014 Yevgeny Prigozhin, a businessman with ties to Putin \u2014 has repeatedly denied any connection with the group. \n\nThe US imposed sanctions on him after it accused him of trying to meddle in its 2016 presidential election and the 2018 congressional elections. \n\nPrigozhin has denied any links to Wagner and has declined to comment on the US allegations, calling them a \u201cprivate matter\u201d for the US Treasury. \n\n'Elite strike units' \n\nPavel Felgenhauer, columnist and defence analyst at the independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta, told Euronews the Russian contract workers from Wagner are not like their American counterparts. \n\n\u201cThey participate in battles,\u201d he said, and \u201care used in elite strike units\u201d, unlike American defence contractors whose main duties are to guard. \n\n\u201cIn Russia, there is a huge pool of such people willing to fight. Basically, they are veterans of Donbas. Nowadays in Donbas, they do not fight very much and, most importantly, they aren\u2019t paid well. That's why they are looking for a place to earn money because it's hard for them to earn in another way.\u201d \n\nWhile by some international standards the money they make isn\u2019t a huge amount, they can earn a few thousand dollars a month as a fighter, more as commander and their families will receive less than \u20ac50,000 in the event of their death. \n\nFelgenhauer said in Russia being mercenary is a criminal offence, and there are officially no private military companies. \u201cBut, of course, they operate under the control of the Russian security services and military. Without a nod from the Kremlin, they do not go to war, even if the Kremlin denies it and says they do not know anything.\u201d \n\nUsing Wagner Group fighters achieves a number of aims for the Russian government, he said. They are willing to go in and fight to the death, as the money is a lot for families from their Russian provinces. Also, \u201ca dangerous element is being withdrawn from Russia\u201d - they are highly trained fighters, who could conceivably one day pose a political threat back home. \n\nAnd finally, he added, they allow the Kremlin to pursue its foreign policy aims with plausible deniability at the same time, \u201cbecause Russia will not officially interfere in Libya.\u201d \n\n\u201cRussia has relations with both Haftar and the GNA. The GNA also supports Erdo\u011fan. And Erdo\u011fan and Russia will not fight over Libya. This would lead to a serious crisis in Syria, and Turkey is more strategically important for Russia than Libya,\u201d Felgenhauer told Euronews. \n\nIn Libya, according to Lorenzo Cremonesi, a correspondent at the Corriere newspaper, Russians keep away from the frontlines, instead operating as snipers from distance, drone pilots or as trainers for Haftar\u2019s soldiers. \n\nAccording to Foreign Policy, the group fell into disgrace after the Syrian offensive and has recently been trying to find work in Africa in the training of local militias and with contracts for private security. Three Russian journalists who were investigating Wagner's presence in the Central African Republic were murdered in the summer of 2018. Others were threatened. \n\nThe head of the Higher Council of the State of Libya, Khaled al-Meshri, says the UN-recognized GNA is to submit a list of names of mercenaries found fighting in the country to the Russian government. \n\nDavid Schenker, the US Assistant Secretary for the Affairs of the Near East, announced that the US is working with European partners to impose sanctions on the Russian contractor, citing \"the spectre of large-scale civilian killings\" by the Wagner Group. \n\n","htmlText":"<p>Libya\u2019s Government of National Accord (GNA) has called out foreign interference in the country\u2019s civil war, claiming Russian mercenaries have been involved in the fighting.<\/p>\n<p><a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////apnews.com//5cb85022f79e4af391007d74b6edc0f2/" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Libyan and US officials say<\/a> those contract fighters are from a paramilitary organisation called the Wagner Group, which is associated with an oligarch close to Russian President Vladimir Putin.<\/p>\n<p>The AP reports Wagner Group contractors are accused of fighting alongside General Khalifa Haftar, who along with the support of the United Arab Emirates and Egypt is laying siege to the internationally-recognised interim government in Tripoli.<\/p>\n<p>Moscow has repeatedly denied any direct involvement in the conflict but these mercenaries \"operate under the control of the Russian security services and military, and without a hint from the Kremlin, do not move,\" Pavel Felgenhauer, an analyst and editor at Novaya Gazeta, told Euronews.<\/p>\n<h2>What is the Wagner Group?<\/h2>\n<p>One of a number of private military groups from Russia, the Wagner Group emerged out of the conflict in the Donbas in eastern Ukraine, when pro-Russian forces rose up against the Ukrainian government.<\/p>\n<p>People with ties to the Wagner group previously told Reuters news agency that it has carried out clandestine combat missions on the Kremlin\u2019s behalf in Ukraine and Syria. Russian authorities deny Wagner contractors carry out their orders.<\/p>\n<p>The oligarch considered to be the head of the Wagner Group \u2014 Yevgeny Prigozhin, a businessman with ties to Putin \u2014 has repeatedly denied any connection with the group.<\/p>\n<p>The US imposed sanctions on him after it accused him of trying to meddle in its 2016 presidential election and the 2018 congressional elections.<\/p>\n<p>Prigozhin has denied any links to Wagner and has declined to comment on the US allegations, calling them a \u201cprivate matter\u201d for the US Treasury.<\/p>\n<h2>'Elite strike units'<\/h2>\n<p>Pavel Felgenhauer, columnist and defence analyst at the independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta, told Euronews the Russian contract workers from Wagner are not like their American counterparts.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey participate in battles,\u201d he said, and \u201care used in elite strike units\u201d, unlike American defence contractors whose main duties are to guard.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn Russia, there is a huge pool of such people willing to fight. Basically, they are veterans of Donbas. Nowadays in Donbas, they do not fight very much and, most importantly, they aren\u2019t paid well. That's why they are looking for a place to earn money because it's hard for them to earn in another way.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While by some international standards the money they make isn\u2019t a huge amount, they can earn a few thousand dollars a month as a fighter, more as commander and their families will receive less than \u20ac50,000 in the event of their death.<\/p>\n<p>Felgenhauer said in Russia being mercenary is a criminal offence, and there are officially no private military companies. \u201cBut, of course, they operate under the control of the Russian security services and military. Without a nod from the Kremlin, they do not go to war, even if the Kremlin denies it and says they do not know anything.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Using Wagner Group fighters achieves a number of aims for the Russian government, he said. They are willing to go in and fight to the death, as the money is a lot for families from their Russian provinces. Also, \u201ca dangerous element is being withdrawn from Russia\u201d - they are highly trained fighters, who could conceivably one day pose a political threat back home.<\/p>\n<p>And finally, he added, they allow the Kremlin to pursue its foreign policy aims with plausible deniability at the same time, \u201cbecause Russia will not officially interfere in Libya.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRussia has relations with both Haftar and the GNA. The GNA also supports Erdo\u011fan. And Erdo\u011fan and Russia will not fight over Libya. This would lead to a serious crisis in Syria, and Turkey is more strategically important for Russia than Libya,\u201d Felgenhauer told Euronews.<\/p>\n<p>In Libya, according to Lorenzo Cremonesi, a correspondent at the Corriere newspaper, Russians keep away from the frontlines, instead operating as snipers from distance, drone pilots or as trainers for Haftar\u2019s soldiers.<\/p>\n<p><a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////foreignpolicy.com//2019//10//06//rise-fall-russian-private-army-wagner-syrian-civil-war///" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\">According to Foreign Policy,<\/a> the group fell into disgrace after the Syrian offensive and has recently been trying to find work in Africa in the training of local militias and with contracts for private security. Three Russian journalists who were investigating Wagner's presence in the Central African Republic were murdered in the summer of 2018. Others were threatened.<\/p>\n<p>The head of the Higher Council of the State of Libya, Khaled al-Meshri, says the UN-recognized GNA is to submit a list of names of mercenaries found fighting in the country to the Russian government.<\/p>\n<p>David Schenker, the US Assistant Secretary for the Affairs of the Near East, announced that the US is working with European partners to impose sanctions on the Russian contractor, citing \"the spectre of large-scale civilian killings\" by the Wagner Group.<\/p>\n","hashtag":null,"createdAt":1576690203,"updatedAt":1723539856,"publishedAt":1576696046,"firstPublishedAt":1576696049,"lastPublishedAt":1576696049,"expiresAt":0,"images":[{"url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/37\/49\/26\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_c6da1cd4-ada0-5370-b184-508459575f4a-4374926.jpg","altText":"Protesters in Tripoli demonstrate against the military offensive of Field Marshal Khalifa Hifter","caption":"Protesters in Tripoli demonstrate against the military offensive of Field Marshal Khalifa Hifter","captionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"AP","sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":"Hazem Ahmed","callToActionUrl":null,"callToActionText":null,"width":5656,"height":3840}],"authors":{"journalists":[{"id":979,"urlSafeValue":"montalto-monella","title":"Lillo Montalto Monella","twitter":"@lillomontalto"}],"producers":[],"videoEditor":[]},"keywords":[{"id":239,"slug":"russia","urlSafeValue":"russia","title":"Russia","titleRaw":"Russia"},{"id":172,"slug":"libya","urlSafeValue":"libya","title":"Libya","titleRaw":"Libya"},{"id":10515,"slug":"libyan-war","urlSafeValue":"libyan-war","title":"Libyan war","titleRaw":"Libyan war"}],"widgets":[],"related":[{"id":944246},{"id":989312},{"id":1883496}],"technicalTags":[],"externalPartners":[],"hasExternalVideo":0,"hasInternalOrExternalVideo":0,"video":0,"videos":[],"liveStream":[{"startDate":0,"endDate":0}],"scribbleLiveId":0,"scribbleLiveRibbon":0,"isLiveCoverage":0,"sourceId":1,"sources":[],"externalSource":"Reuters","additionalSources":"","additionalReporting":"Luke Hurst","freeField1":null,"freeField2":"","type":"normal","displayType":"default","program":{"id":"world","urlSafeValue":"world","title":"World News","online":1,"url":"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/programs\/world"},"season":"","episode":"","episodeId":"","vertical":"news","verticals":[{"id":1,"slug":"news","urlSafeValue":"news","title":"News"}],"primaryVertical":{"id":1,"slug":"news","urlSafeValue":"news","title":"News"},"themes":[{"id":"news","urlSafeValue":"news","title":"World","url":"\/news\/international"}],"primaryTheme":{"id":1,"urlSafeValue":"news","title":"World"},"advertising":0,"advertisingData":{"startDate":0,"endDate":0,"type":null,"slug":null,"title":null,"disclaimerLabelKey":null,"sponsor":null,"sponsorName":null,"sponsorUrl":null,"sponsorLogo":"","sponsorLogoReverse":"","isDfp":0},"geoLocation":{"lat":0,"lon":0},"location":1,"continent":{"id":3,"urlSafeValue":"africa","title":"Africa"},"country":{"id":172,"urlSafeValue":"libya","title":"Libya","url":"\/news\/africa\/libya"},"town":[],"contextualSignals":{"doubleVerify":{"ids":[],"slugs":[]}},"grapeshot":"'neg_facebook_2021','neg_facebook_q4','castrol_negative_uk','gs_politics','neg_mobkoi_castrol','neg_nespresso','sm_politics','pos_equinor','pos_facebook','pos_pmi','gs_politics_misc','neg_saudiaramco','gt_negative','gv_military','gt_negative_anger','gv_death_injury','gt_negative_fear'","versions":[],"programDeliverable":{"slug":"sujet","format":"default"},"showOpinionDisclaimer":0,"allViews":0,"allViewsMeta":{"pointOfView":[],"survey":[],"tweetId":0,"tweet2NdId":0,"displayOverlay":0},"storyTranslationMethod":[],"localisation":[],"autoPublished":0,"autoLocalised":0,"isReviewed":0,"path":"\/2019\/12\/18\/who-are-the-russian-mercenaries-waging-war-in-libya","lastModified":1576696049},{"id":963732,"cid":4369496,"versionId":3,"archive":0,"housenumber":"191216_WBSU_10250882","owner":"euronews","isMagazine":0,"isBreakingNews":0,"daletEventName":"Turkey Libya","daletPyramidId":null,"channels":[{"id":1},{"id":2},{"id":4},{"id":5},{"id":12}],"status":2,"title":"What are the implications of Turkey's military pledge to Libya? | Euronews answers ","titleSeo":null,"titleListing1":"Turkey is ready to send troops to Libya. What does it mean for Europe?","titleListing2":"What are the implications of Turkey's military pledge to Libya, and how will it impact already strained relations with the EU?","leadin":"After Erdogan pledged military support to Tripoli, how might Europe respond? | Euronews answers","summary":"After Erdogan pledged military support to Tripoli, how might Europe respond? | Euronews answers","keySentence":"","url":"what-are-the-implications-of-turkey-s-military-pledge-to-libya-euronews-answers","canonical":"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/2019\/12\/16\/what-are-the-implications-of-turkey-s-military-pledge-to-libya-euronews-answers","masterCms":"v2","plainText":"Turkey is ready to send troops to Libya, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday, after Ankara and Tripoli's internationally recognised government signed a security deal. \n\n\"We will be protecting the rights of Libya and Turkey in the Eastern Mediterranean,\" Erdogan told Turkish television. \"We are more than ready to give whatever support necessary to Libya.\" \n\nThe bilateral deal, which provides for a quick reaction force if requested by Tripoli, was sent to parliament on Saturday but it is unclear when a vote will take place. \n\nAnkara's latest move comes as the Libyan war enters a crucial stage, with eastern Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar launching what he said would be a \"final battle\" for Tripoli. \n\nHis offensive against the UN-recognised government began in April but has so far stalled outside the capital. \n\nEuronews explores the reasons behind Turkey's military pledge to Tripoli and its possible consequences on the regional and international stage, at a time of rising tensions between Ankara and its European allies. \n\nWhat's Turkey's interest in getting involved? \n\nTurkey has said the military pledge to Libya was primarily motivated by legality. \n\nHaftar \"is not a legitimate leader...and is representative of an illegal structure,\" Erdogan said after meeting in Istanbul with Fayez al-Sarraj, prime minister of Libya's Government of National Accord. \n\nBut Turkey's interest in Libya is not new, expert Barah Mikail, director of Stractegia Consulting and Associate Professor at Saint Louis University in Madrid told Euronews. \n\n\"Ankara has sought to develop a policy of influence in the aftermath of the fall of Libya's former ruler Moammar Gaddafi,\" in 2011 Mikail said. \n\n\"But with Commander Khalifa Haftar's offensive against Tripoli in April 2019, the Turks found new ways to expand their political and military influence on the ground.\" \n\nAccording to the expert, Turkey's strategic interest is to develop a Mediterranean policy which may compete with that of the Europeans. \n\nEconomic calculations are another factor, Mikail told Euronews, with Libya offering \"huge prospects\" in terms of infrastructure development and reconstruction. \n\nTurkey may furthermore want to display its military capabilities by selling weapons to the so-called Government of National Accord (GNA) based in Tripoli. \n\n\"There could also be an ideological component to explore, given that Fayez Sarraj's government has the reputation to be subjected - even if it is less than before - to the influence of Islamists, in a context in which the Islamist orientations and beliefs of Turkish President Erdogan are all but secret,\" the expert told Euronews, \n\n\"But I doubt that this component prevails over the geopolitical aspects,\" he added. \n\nHow likely is a Turkish intervention? \n\nAccording to the text of the military agreement sent to Turkish lawmakers, Tripoli could request vehicles, equipment and weapons for use in army, navy and air operations. It also provisions for new intelligence sharing. \n\nEven before this agreement, there was ongoing military cooperation between Tripoli and Ankara. Last week, the UN Security Council found that Turkey, along with Jordan and the UAE, was among the governments violating the weapons embargo in Libya by arming warring sides. \n\nAs noted by Mikail, President Erdogan has so far emphasised Turkey's readiness to put military means at Sarraj's disposal -- rather than sending straight troops on the ground. \n\n\"Obviously we can't rule out anything but I would take what the Turks are saying about their will to send troops to Libya with a pinch of salt,\" the analyst said \n\n\"The Turks say that the simple fact for Tripoli to officially request such an intervention would make it happen. I dare to believe that Fayez Sarraj and his entourage will not only have to take into account the reluctance of their European counterparts on the issue but also calculate the risks of such an intervention before deciding to call it.\" \n\n\"And the risks associated with such an intervention are considerable,\" Mikail added. \n\nEven within Turkey, there is far from consensus behind sending troops to Libya. \n\nUtku Cakirozer, a lawmaker from Turkey's main opposition CHP and a member of the NATO parliamentary assembly told Reuters: \"Turkey should not enter into a new adventure.\" \n\n\"The AKP government should immediately stop being a party to the war in Libya.\" \n\nHow would it affect regional stability? \n\nAnkara's latest move risks confrontation with forces led by Khalifa Haftar based in eastern Libya, further destabilising a volatile region. \n\n\"A Turkish intervention in Libya would only increase the current destabilisation and raise the risks that other foreign armed troops may imitate the Turkish move,\" Mikail said. \n\n\"We have the ability to (intervene in Libya) but we haven't,\" Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi told a youth forum in the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh. \n\nSisi expressed his support for \"national armies\" in Libya, an apparent reference to Haftar's Libyan National Army (LNA). \n\nEgypt is a regional rival of Turkey and one of the main backers of the LNA, which is battling forces aligned with the internationally recognised government in Tripoli. \n\nIn the past, Egypt has carried out airstrikes in Libya and has channelled material support to the LNA, according to UN experts. \n\n\"The UN Special Envoy to Libya keeps denouncing the fact that foreign interference is one of the biggest obstacles to solving the Libyan crisis -- he is a hundred times right,\" Barah said. \n\nWhat would be the impact on EU-Turkey relations? \n\nTurkey's pledge to offer military support to Libya comes at a time of heightened tensions between Ankara and EU countries on a number of fronts -- not least, Ankara's military intervention against the Kurds in Syria earlier this year. \n\nREAD MORE: Turkey threatens EU critics with open border as Syria conflict intensifies \n\nFurthermore, Ankara and Tripoli signed their security and military accord at the same time as a separate memorandum on maritime boundaries that angered Greece. \n\nREAD MORE: Greece to expel Libyan ambassador over sea accord with Turkey \n\nGreece, which expelled the Libyan ambassador over the maritime boundary pact, has warned that Turkey is escalating tensions in the region. \n\n\"Turkey must choose if it will follow the road of self-isolation, continuing to play the role of trouble-maker in the region, or behave like a good neighbour henceforth,\" Greece's deputy foreign minister, Miltiadis Varvitsiotis, told Sunday's Ethnos newspaper. \n\nGreece has also condemned new Turkish gas exploration off the coast of the divided island of Cyprus. \n\nBut Barah thinks the EU's reaction would remain limited if Turkey was to send troops to Libya. \n\n\" If it were to materialize, a large-scale Turkish intervention in Libya would most likely bring about a series of European criticisms, but this would have little impact on Turkey. Europeans are too afraid of the reactions and leverage of the Turkish president, especially on migration issues, to push the boundaries too far against him.\" \n\n","htmlText":"<p>Turkey is ready to send troops to Libya, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday, after Ankara and Tripoli's internationally recognised government signed a security deal.<\/p>\n<p>\"We will be protecting the rights of Libya and Turkey in the Eastern Mediterranean,\" Erdogan told Turkish television. \"We are more than ready to give whatever support necessary to Libya.\"<\/p>\n<p>The bilateral deal, which provides for a quick reaction force if requested by Tripoli, was sent to parliament on Saturday but it is unclear when a vote will take place.<\/p>\n<p>Ankara's latest move comes as the Libyan war enters a crucial stage, with eastern Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar launching what he said would be a \"final battle\" for Tripoli.<\/p>\n<p>His offensive against the UN-recognised government began in April but has so far stalled outside the capital.<\/p>\n<p>Euronews explores the reasons behind Turkey's military pledge to Tripoli and its possible consequences on the regional and international stage, at a time of rising tensions between Ankara and its European allies.<\/p>\n<h2>What's Turkey's interest in getting involved?<\/h2>\n<p>Turkey has said the military pledge to Libya was primarily motivated by legality.<\/p>\n<p>Haftar \"is not a legitimate leader...and is representative of an illegal structure,\" Erdogan said after meeting in Istanbul with Fayez al-Sarraj, prime minister of Libya's Government of National Accord.<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-image widget--size-fullwidth widget--animation-fade-in widget--align-center\" data-ratio=\"0.666566985645933\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio--auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <figure class=\"widget__figure\">\n <img class=\"widgetImage__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////static.euronews.com//articles//stories//04//34//77//42//808x539_cmsv2_f1c3e6ac-359f-5d7b-a309-aec75b21e119-4347742.jpg/" alt=\"MUSTAFA KAMACI \/ TURKISH PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE \/ AFP\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/34\/77\/42\/384x256_cmsv2_f1c3e6ac-359f-5d7b-a309-aec75b21e119-4347742.jpg 384w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/34\/77\/42\/640x427_cmsv2_f1c3e6ac-359f-5d7b-a309-aec75b21e119-4347742.jpg 640w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/34\/77\/42\/750x500_cmsv2_f1c3e6ac-359f-5d7b-a309-aec75b21e119-4347742.jpg 750w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/34\/77\/42\/828x552_cmsv2_f1c3e6ac-359f-5d7b-a309-aec75b21e119-4347742.jpg 828w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/34\/77\/42\/1080x720_cmsv2_f1c3e6ac-359f-5d7b-a309-aec75b21e119-4347742.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/34\/77\/42\/1200x800_cmsv2_f1c3e6ac-359f-5d7b-a309-aec75b21e119-4347742.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/34\/77\/42\/1920x1280_cmsv2_f1c3e6ac-359f-5d7b-a309-aec75b21e119-4347742.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 95vw, (max-width: 1024px) 80vw, (max-width: 1280px) 55vw, 728px\"\/>\n <figcaption class=\"widget__caption\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionWrap\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionText\">FILE PHOTO: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) and Fayez al-Sarraj<\/span>\n <span class=\"widget__captionCredit\">MUSTAFA KAMACI \/ TURKISH PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE \/ AFP<\/span>\n <\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<p>But Turkey's interest in Libya is not new, expert Barah Mikail, director of Stractegia Consulting and Associate Professor at Saint Louis University in Madrid told Euronews.<\/p>\n<p>\"Ankara has sought to develop a policy of influence in the aftermath of the fall of Libya's former ruler Moammar Gaddafi,\" in 2011 Mikail said.<\/p>\n<p>\"But with Commander Khalifa Haftar's offensive against Tripoli in April 2019, the Turks found new ways to expand their political and military influence on the ground.\"<\/p>\n<p>According to the expert, Turkey's strategic interest is to develop a Mediterranean policy which may compete with that of the Europeans.<\/p>\n<p>Economic calculations are another factor, Mikail told Euronews, with Libya offering \"huge prospects\" in terms of infrastructure development and reconstruction.<\/p>\n<p>Turkey may furthermore want to display its military capabilities by selling weapons to the so-called Government of National Accord (GNA) based in Tripoli.<\/p>\n<p>\"There could also be an ideological component to explore, given that Fayez Sarraj's government has the reputation to be subjected - even if it is less than before - to the influence of Islamists, in a context in which the Islamist orientations and beliefs of Turkish President Erdogan are all but secret,\" the expert told Euronews,<\/p>\n<p>\"But I doubt that this component prevails over the geopolitical aspects,\" he added.<\/p>\n<h2>How likely is a Turkish intervention?<\/h2>\n<p>According to the text of the military agreement sent to Turkish lawmakers, Tripoli could request vehicles, equipment and weapons for use in army, navy and air operations. It also provisions for new intelligence sharing.<\/p>\n<p>Even before this agreement, there was ongoing military cooperation between Tripoli and Ankara. Last week, the UN Security Council found that Turkey, along with Jordan and the UAE, was among the governments violating the weapons embargo in Libya by arming warring sides.<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-image widget--size-fullwidth widget--animation-fade-in widget--align-center\" data-ratio=\"0.7235294117647059\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio--auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <figure class=\"widget__figure\">\n <img class=\"widgetImage__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////static.euronews.com//articles//stories//04//36//94//96//808x586_cmsv2_974f3fc9-7db8-5f0e-89e5-78f2ed972e5c-4369496.jpg/" alt=\"AFP\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/36\/94\/96\/384x278_cmsv2_974f3fc9-7db8-5f0e-89e5-78f2ed972e5c-4369496.jpg 384w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/36\/94\/96\/640x463_cmsv2_974f3fc9-7db8-5f0e-89e5-78f2ed972e5c-4369496.jpg 640w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/36\/94\/96\/750x543_cmsv2_974f3fc9-7db8-5f0e-89e5-78f2ed972e5c-4369496.jpg 750w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/36\/94\/96\/828x599_cmsv2_974f3fc9-7db8-5f0e-89e5-78f2ed972e5c-4369496.jpg 828w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/36\/94\/96\/1080x781_cmsv2_974f3fc9-7db8-5f0e-89e5-78f2ed972e5c-4369496.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/36\/94\/96\/1200x868_cmsv2_974f3fc9-7db8-5f0e-89e5-78f2ed972e5c-4369496.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/36\/94\/96\/1920x1389_cmsv2_974f3fc9-7db8-5f0e-89e5-78f2ed972e5c-4369496.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 95vw, (max-width: 1024px) 80vw, (max-width: 1280px) 55vw, 728px\"\/>\n <figcaption class=\"widget__caption\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionWrap\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionText\">FILE PHOTO: Fighters loyal to the Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA) displaying Chinese-made shells bearing the markings of the United Arab Emirates<\/span>\n <span class=\"widget__captionCredit\">AFP<\/span>\n <\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<p>As noted by Mikail, President Erdogan has so far emphasised Turkey's readiness to put military means at Sarraj's disposal -- rather than sending straight troops on the ground.<\/p>\n<p>\"Obviously we can't rule out anything but I would take what the Turks are saying about their will to send troops to Libya with a pinch of salt,\" the analyst said<\/p>\n<p>\"The Turks say that the simple fact for Tripoli to officially request such an intervention would make it happen. I dare to believe that Fayez Sarraj and his entourage will not only have to take into account the reluctance of their European counterparts on the issue but also calculate the risks of such an intervention before deciding to call it.\"<\/p>\n<p>\"And the risks associated with such an intervention are considerable,\" Mikail added.<\/p>\n<p>Even within Turkey, there is far from consensus behind sending troops to Libya.<\/p>\n<p>Utku Cakirozer, a lawmaker from Turkey's main opposition CHP and a member of the NATO parliamentary assembly told Reuters: \"Turkey should not enter into a new adventure.\"<\/p>\n<p>\"The AKP government should immediately stop being a party to the war in Libya.\"<\/p>\n<h2>How would it affect regional stability?<\/h2>\n<p>Ankara's latest move risks confrontation with forces led by Khalifa Haftar based in eastern Libya, further destabilising a volatile region.<\/p>\n<p>\"A Turkish intervention in Libya would only increase the current destabilisation and raise the risks that other foreign armed troops may imitate the Turkish move,\" Mikail said.<\/p>\n<p>\"We have the ability to (intervene in Libya) but we haven't,\" Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi told a youth forum in the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh.<\/p>\n<p>Sisi expressed his support for \"national armies\" in Libya, an apparent reference to Haftar's Libyan National Army (LNA).<\/p>\n<p>Egypt is a regional rival of Turkey and one of the main backers of the LNA, which is battling forces aligned with the internationally recognised government in Tripoli.<\/p>\n<p>In the past, Egypt has carried out airstrikes in Libya and has channelled material support to the LNA, according to UN experts.<\/p>\n<p>\"The UN Special Envoy to Libya keeps denouncing the fact that foreign interference is one of the biggest obstacles to solving the Libyan crisis -- he is a hundred times right,\" Barah said.<\/p>\n<h2>What would be the impact on EU-Turkey relations?<\/h2>\n<p>Turkey's pledge to offer military support to Libya comes at a time of heightened tensions between Ankara and EU countries on a number of fronts -- not least, Ankara's military intervention against the Kurds in Syria earlier this year.<\/p>\n<p><a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.euronews.com//2019//10//09//turkey-begins-military-offensive-in-northern-syria-after-us-pulls-out-troops/">READ MORE: Turkey threatens EU critics with open border as Syria conflict intensifies<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Furthermore, Ankara and Tripoli signed their security and military accord at the same time as a separate memorandum on maritime boundaries that angered Greece.<\/p>\n<p><a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.euronews.com//2019//12//06//greece-to-expel-libyan-ambassador-over-sea-accord-with-turkey/">READ MORE: Greece to expel Libyan ambassador over sea accord with Turkey<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Greece, which expelled the Libyan ambassador over the maritime boundary pact, has warned that Turkey is escalating tensions in the region.<\/p>\n<p>\"Turkey must choose if it will follow the road of self-isolation, continuing to play the role of trouble-maker in the region, or behave like a good neighbour henceforth,\" Greece's deputy foreign minister, Miltiadis Varvitsiotis, told Sunday's Ethnos newspaper.<\/p>\n<p>Greece has also condemned new Turkish gas exploration off the coast of the divided island of Cyprus.<\/p>\n<p>But Barah thinks the EU's reaction would remain limited if Turkey was to send troops to Libya.<\/p>\n<p>\" If it were to materialize, a large-scale Turkish intervention in Libya would most likely bring about a series of European criticisms, but this would have little impact on Turkey. Europeans are too afraid of the reactions and leverage of the Turkish president, especially on migration issues, to push the boundaries too far against him.\"<\/p>\n","hashtag":null,"createdAt":1576488853,"updatedAt":1723539856,"publishedAt":1576504438,"firstPublishedAt":1576504440,"lastPublishedAt":1576585456,"expiresAt":0,"images":[{"url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/36\/94\/96\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_90987964-4b43-559f-b6ce-6f3763962f79-4369496.jpg","altText":"FILE PHOTO: Aftermath of a reported air strike on a factory south of the Libyan capital Tripoli, November 2019","caption":"FILE PHOTO: Aftermath of a reported air strike on a factory south of the Libyan capital Tripoli, November 2019","captionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"Mahmud TURKIA \/ AFP","sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"callToActionText":null,"width":3114,"height":2074},{"url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/36\/94\/96\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_974f3fc9-7db8-5f0e-89e5-78f2ed972e5c-4369496.jpg","altText":"FILE PHOTO: Fighters loyal to the Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA) displaying Chinese-made shells bearing the markings of the United Arab Emirates","caption":"FILE PHOTO: Fighters loyal to the Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA) displaying Chinese-made shells bearing the markings of the United Arab Emirates","captionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"AFP","sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"callToActionText":null,"width":3400,"height":2460}],"authors":{"journalists":[{"id":1708,"urlSafeValue":"amiel","title":"Sandrine Amiel","twitter":null}],"producers":[],"videoEditor":[]},"keywords":[{"id":10515,"slug":"libyan-war","urlSafeValue":"libyan-war","title":"Libyan war","titleRaw":"Libyan war"},{"id":284,"slug":"turkey","urlSafeValue":"turkey","title":"Turkiye (Turkey)","titleRaw":"Turkiye (Turkey)"},{"id":8397,"slug":"recep-tayyip-erdogan","urlSafeValue":"recep-tayyip-erdogan","title":"Recep Tayyip Erdogan","titleRaw":"Recep Tayyip Erdogan"},{"id":14820,"slug":"khalifa-haftar","urlSafeValue":"khalifa-haftar","title":"Khalifa Haftar","titleRaw":"Khalifa Haftar"},{"id":20861,"slug":"fayez-al-sarraj","urlSafeValue":"fayez-al-sarraj","title":"Fayez al-Sarraj","titleRaw":"Fayez al-Sarraj"},{"id":172,"slug":"libya","urlSafeValue":"libya","title":"Libya","titleRaw":"Libya"}],"widgets":[{"slug":"image","count":2}],"related":[{"id":980622}],"technicalTags":[],"externalPartners":[],"hasExternalVideo":0,"hasInternalOrExternalVideo":0,"video":0,"videos":[],"liveStream":[{"startDate":0,"endDate":0}],"scribbleLiveId":0,"scribbleLiveRibbon":0,"isLiveCoverage":0,"sourceId":1,"sources":[],"externalSource":null,"additionalSources":"","additionalReporting":"agencies","freeField1":null,"freeField2":"","type":"normal","displayType":"default","program":{"id":"world","urlSafeValue":"world","title":"World 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MONITORING LIBYAN COAST GUARD ","daletPyramidId":null,"channels":[{"id":1},{"id":2},{"id":4},{"id":5},{"id":12}],"status":2,"title":"EU funds Libyan Coast Guard but has limited monitoring capacity, leaked report suggests ","titleSeo":null,"titleListing1":"EU funds Libyan Coast Guard but who is monitoring them? ","titleListing2":"EU funds Libyan Coast Guard but has limited monitoring capacity, leaked report suggests ","leadin":"While the military mission called Eunavfor Med - Operation Sophia (ENFM) is in charge of training and evaluating LCG, its staff is not permitted to set foot in the country due to security conditions.","summary":"While the military mission called Eunavfor Med - Operation Sophia (ENFM) is in charge of training and evaluating LCG, its staff is not permitted to set foot in the country due to security conditions.","keySentence":"","url":"eu-funds-libyan-coast-guard-but-has-limited-monitoring-capacity-leaked-report-suggests","canonical":"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/2019\/11\/03\/eu-funds-libyan-coast-guard-but-has-limited-monitoring-capacity-leaked-report-suggests","masterCms":"v2","plainText":"In the past two years, the EU has spent more than 90 million euros funding and training the Libyan Coast Guard (LCG) in an attempt to keep migrants out of the continent. \n\nYet a leaked EU report seen by Euronews suggests that the bloc's ability to monitor LCG's activity is limited at best. \n\nThe report in question was sent in July this year by the European External Action Service to member states' ambassadors. \n\nWhile the military mission called Eunavfor Med - Operation Sophia (ENFM) is in charge of training and evaluating LCG, its staff is not permitted to set foot in the country due to security conditions. \n\n\u201cIt is important to underline that any monitoring activity ashore will be conditional to the improvement of the overall security situation in Libya, which at the moment doesn't allow any ENFM personnel to enter the country,\u201d the report said \n\nOperation Sophia can speak \u201cby phone call and online chat\u201d with the LCG or hold periodic meetings with them but has no authorisation to go onboard of Libyan vessels or operate in Libyan waters. \n\nEU says model 'successful' \n\nLaunched in 2015, Eunavfor Med so far has trained 355 Libyan personnel with a view to \"help to offset any perception of an EU disengagement from Libya,\" the report said. \n\nAccording to the report, EU's work to build capacities of the Libyan Coast Guard has been a success. \n\n\u201cThe reduced migrants flow in the Mediterranean Sea proves today that the model described above has been successful,\u201d the report said. \n\nBut humanitarians' accounts of the situation off the Libyan coast tell a very different story. \n\nLast week, German NGO Sea-Eye accused the Libyan Coast Guard of pointing guns at rescuers and migrants. \n\nIn September, a Sudanese man was shot dead just hours after the Libyan Coast Guard returned him to shore, the UN's migration body said. \n\nHuman rights groups have furthermore accused armed groups and members of the coast guard of being involved in human trafficking. \n\n'Toothless monitoring' \n\nAndrej Hunko, a spokesman for the German DIE LINKE party in the German Bundestag told Euronews: \u201cThe European Commission gave GoPro cameras to the so-called Libyan Coast Guard to monitor their human rights violations.\u00a0 \n\nThe patrol boats of the \"Bigliani\" class are also equipped with cameras to be switched on by the crew. The videos recorded during missions should then be uploaded to Eunavfor-Med for evaluation.\u201d \n\n\u201cHowever, I am convinced that no incriminating recordings will find their way into the toothless monitoring and advising mechanism with which the European Union wants to hold the Libyans accountable,\u201d Hunko continued. \n\n\u201cIn fact, the Commission writes that quality and the number of videos provided are not yet sufficient, and that the so-called Coast Guard and Navy have difficulty uploading the recordings due to a lack of a reliable Internet connection. I think this is an excuse because the so-called Coast Guard is quite active on social media, so it cannot be the fault of the Internet\u201d. \n\nHunko believes that real monitoring should also include sanctions, as pointed out by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe - of which he is a member. \n\nLCG picks independently the participants of the EU training. \u201cSince it is not on the ground, the EU has limited capacity to understand who these people are\u201d, said Chiara Loschi, a researcher on interagency cooperation for the University of Vienna and author of a study on this topic. \n\nHuman rights are treated as two modules within the EU training courses offered to the LCG: in some cases \u201ca checklist mentality might have taken precedence over a genuine commitment to core EU values\u201d, Loschi wrote in her study. \n\nThe leaked report indicates that, since December 2018, the vetting mechanism has not barred any of the last 35 trainees who applied for a job in the Libyan Coast Guard. \n\nAccording to a study of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, it is the same Libyan personnel \u201cmonitoring and drafting reports about themselves. Unsurprisingly, the Libyan Coast Guard has not reported any abuses\u201d. \n\nICC submission \n\nOmer Shatz, an international law lecturer at the Paris Institute of Political Studies (SciencesPo), was involved in drafting a communication to the International Criminal Court calling for the prosecution of EU institutions over migrant deaths. \n\nHe argues that EU institutions are the political entity which designed, planned and orchestrated a \u201ccriminal\u201d response to the migrants' crisis and then sub-contracted its execution on the ground. \n\n\u201cIn our case, those who planned the policy, those provided the multi-faceted material, strategic and legal support (...) is the EU\u201d, he told Euronews. \n\nEuronews reached out to Eunavfor-Med but the agency told Euronews it wasn't able to comment on a leaked document. \n\nThe Italian Interior Ministry (which leads the Sophia mission) and the European Commission have not responded to our request for comments. \n\n","htmlText":"<p>In the past two years, the EU has spent more than 90 million euros funding and training the Libyan Coast Guard (LCG) in an attempt to keep migrants out of the continent.<\/p>\n<p>Yet a leaked EU report seen by Euronews suggests that the bloc's ability to monitor LCG's activity is limited at best.<\/p>\n<p>The report in question was sent in July this year by the European External Action Service to member states' ambassadors.<\/p>\n<p>While the military mission called Eunavfor Med - Operation Sophia (ENFM) is in charge of training and evaluating LCG, its staff is not permitted to set foot in the country due to security conditions.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is important to underline that any monitoring activity ashore will be conditional to the improvement of the overall security situation in Libya, which at the moment doesn't allow any ENFM personnel to enter the country,\u201d the report said<\/p>\n<p>Operation Sophia can speak \u201cby phone call and online chat\u201d with the LCG or hold periodic meetings with them but has no authorisation to go onboard of Libyan vessels or operate in Libyan waters.<\/p>\n<h2>EU says model 'successful'<\/h2>\n<p>Launched in 2015, Eunavfor Med so far has trained 355 Libyan personnel with a view to \"help to offset any perception of an EU disengagement from Libya,\" the report said.<\/p>\n<p>According to the report, EU's work to build capacities of the Libyan Coast Guard has been a success.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe reduced migrants flow in the Mediterranean Sea proves today that the model described above has been successful,\u201d the report said.<\/p>\n<p>But humanitarians' accounts of the situation off the Libyan coast tell a very different story.<\/p>\n<p>Last week, German NGO Sea-Eye accused the Libyan Coast Guard of pointing guns at rescuers and migrants.<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-tweet widget--size-fullwidth widget--align-center\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio\u2014auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <figure class=\"widget__figure\">\n <div class=\"widget__tweet\" data-tweet-id=\"1188102093569167360\"><\/div>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<p>In September, a Sudanese man was <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.euronews.com//2019//10//03//unhcr-in-libya-part-4-the-detention-centres-the-map-and-the-stories/">shot dead<\/a> just hours after the Libyan Coast Guard returned him to shore, the UN's migration body said.<\/p>\n<p>Human rights groups have furthermore accused armed groups and members of the coast guard of being involved in human trafficking.<\/p>\n<h2>'Toothless monitoring'<\/h2>\n<p>Andrej Hunko, a spokesman for the German DIE LINKE party in the German Bundestag told Euronews: \u201cThe European Commission gave GoPro cameras to the so-called Libyan Coast Guard to monitor their human rights violations.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The patrol boats of the \"Bigliani\" class are also equipped with cameras to be switched on by the crew. The videos recorded during missions should then be uploaded to Eunavfor-Med for evaluation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHowever, I am convinced that no incriminating recordings will find their way into the toothless monitoring and advising mechanism with which the European Union wants to hold the Libyans accountable,\u201d Hunko continued.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn fact, the Commission writes that quality and the number of videos provided are not yet sufficient, and that the so-called Coast Guard and Navy have difficulty uploading the recordings due to a lack of a reliable Internet connection. I think this is an excuse because the so-called Coast Guard is quite active on social media, so it cannot be the fault of the Internet\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Hunko believes that real monitoring should also include sanctions, as <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"http:////assembly.coe.int//nw//xml//XRef//Xref-XML2HTML-en.asp?fileid=24738&lang=en\%22 target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\">pointed out<\/a> by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe - of which he is a member.<\/p>\n<p>LCG picks independently the participants of the EU training. \u201cSince it is not on the ground, the EU has limited capacity to understand who these people are\u201d, said Chiara Loschi, a researcher on interagency cooperation for the University of Vienna and author of a <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"http:////www.eunpack.eu//sites//default//files//publications//2018-01-31 D6.2 Working paper on implementation of EU crisis response in Libya.pdf/" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\">study<\/a> on this topic.<\/p>\n<p>Human rights are treated as two modules within the EU training courses offered to the LCG: in some cases \u201ca checklist mentality might have taken precedence over a genuine commitment to core EU values\u201d, Loschi wrote in her study.<\/p>\n<p>The leaked report indicates that, since December 2018, the vetting mechanism has not barred any of the last 35 trainees who applied for a job in the Libyan Coast Guard.<\/p>\n<p>According to a <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.njb.nl//Uploads//2019//1//Maarten-Kos.docx/" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\">study<\/a> of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, it is the same Libyan personnel \u201cmonitoring and drafting reports about themselves. Unsurprisingly, the Libyan Coast Guard has not reported any abuses\u201d.<\/p>\n<h2>ICC submission<\/h2>\n<p>Omer Shatz, an international law lecturer at the Paris Institute of Political Studies (SciencesPo), was involved in drafting a <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.statewatch.org//news//2019//jun//eu-icc-case-EU-Migration-Policies.pdf/" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\">communication to the International Criminal Court<\/a> calling for the prosecution of EU institutions over migrant deaths.<\/p>\n<p>He argues that EU institutions are the political entity which designed, planned and orchestrated a \u201ccriminal\u201d response to the migrants' crisis and then sub-contracted its execution on the ground.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn our case, those who planned the policy, those provided the multi-faceted material, strategic and legal support (...) is the EU\u201d, he told Euronews.<\/p>\n<p>Euronews reached out to Eunavfor-Med but the agency told Euronews it wasn't able to comment on a leaked document.<\/p>\n<p>The Italian Interior Ministry (which leads the Sophia mission) and the European Commission have not responded to our request for comments.<\/p>\n","hashtag":null,"createdAt":1572432615,"updatedAt":1723539856,"publishedAt":1572795105,"firstPublishedAt":1572795107,"lastPublishedAt":1572795107,"expiresAt":0,"images":[{"url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/26\/95\/72\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_503b1ef3-6ffc-584c-9ff4-75dfbcb5ca92-4269572.jpg","altText":null,"caption":null,"captionUrl":null,"captionCredit":null,"sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"callToActionText":null,"width":1080,"height":810}],"authors":{"journalists":[{"id":979,"urlSafeValue":"montalto-monella","title":"Lillo Montalto Monella","twitter":"@lillomontalto"}],"producers":[],"videoEditor":[]},"keywords":[{"id":172,"slug":"libya","urlSafeValue":"libya","title":"Libya","titleRaw":"Libya"},{"id":10053,"slug":"reports-from-libya","urlSafeValue":"reports-from-libya","title":"Reports from Libya","titleRaw":"Reports from Libya"},{"id":10515,"slug":"libyan-war","urlSafeValue":"libyan-war","title":"Libyan war","titleRaw":"Libyan war"},{"id":12102,"slug":"migrant-crisis","urlSafeValue":"migrant-crisis","title":"Migrant Crisis","titleRaw":"Migrant Crisis"},{"id":147,"slug":"immigration","urlSafeValue":"immigration","title":"Immigration","titleRaw":"Immigration"}],"widgets":[{"slug":"twitter","count":1}],"related":[],"technicalTags":[],"externalPartners":[],"hasExternalVideo":0,"hasInternalOrExternalVideo":0,"video":0,"videos":[],"liveStream":[{"startDate":0,"endDate":0}],"scribbleLiveId":0,"scribbleLiveRibbon":0,"isLiveCoverage":0,"sourceId":1,"sources":[],"externalSource":null,"additionalSources":"","additionalReporting":"Euronews","freeField1":null,"freeField2":"","type":"normal","displayType":"default","program":{"id":"world","urlSafeValue":"world","title":"World News","online":1,"url":"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/programs\/world"},"season":"","episode":"","episodeId":"","vertical":"news","verticals":[{"id":1,"slug":"news","urlSafeValue":"news","title":"News"}],"primaryVertical":{"id":1,"slug":"news","urlSafeValue":"news","title":"News"},"themes":[{"id":"news","urlSafeValue":"news","title":"World","url":"\/news\/international"}],"primaryTheme":{"id":1,"urlSafeValue":"news","title":"World"},"advertising":0,"advertisingData":{"startDate":0,"endDate":0,"type":null,"slug":null,"title":null,"disclaimerLabelKey":null,"sponsor":null,"sponsorName":null,"sponsorUrl":null,"sponsorLogo":"","sponsorLogoReverse":"","isDfp":0},"geoLocation":{"lat":0,"lon":0},"location":1,"continent":{"id":3,"urlSafeValue":"africa","title":"Africa"},"country":{"id":172,"urlSafeValue":"libya","title":"Libya","url":"\/news\/africa\/libya"},"town":[],"contextualSignals":{"doubleVerify":{"ids":[],"slugs":[]}},"grapeshot":"'neg_facebook_2021','gs_politics','sm_politics','gs_politics_misc','pos_equinor','pos_facebook','pos_pmi','castrol_negative_uk','neg_mobkoi_castrol','neg_facebook','gs_society','neg_facebook_q4','neg_facebook_neg1','gs_society_misc','gs_law_misc','gt_mixed','gs_law','gs_business_careers','gv_arms','gv_crime','gv_death_injury'","versions":[],"programDeliverable":{"slug":"sujet","format":"default"},"showOpinionDisclaimer":0,"allViews":0,"allViewsMeta":{"pointOfView":[],"survey":[],"tweetId":0,"tweet2NdId":0,"displayOverlay":0},"storyTranslationMethod":[],"localisation":[],"autoPublished":0,"autoLocalised":0,"isReviewed":0,"path":"\/2019\/11\/03\/eu-funds-libyan-coast-guard-but-has-limited-monitoring-capacity-leaked-report-suggests","lastModified":1572795107},{"id":860020,"cid":4142632,"versionId":5,"archive":0,"housenumber":"190909_WBSU_9083230","owner":"euronews","isMagazine":0,"isBreakingNews":0,"daletEventName":"WEB UNHCR IN LIBYA: MAP OF DETENTION CENTERS","daletPyramidId":null,"channels":[{"id":1},{"id":2},{"id":4},{"id":5},{"id":12}],"status":2,"title":"UNHCR in Libya Part 4: The detention centres - the map and the stories","titleSeo":null,"titleListing1":"UNHCR in Libya Part 4: The detention centres - the map and the stories","titleListing2":"UNHCR in Libya Part 4: The detention centres - the map and the stories","leadin":"In February 2019, the Libyan government revealed that there were 23 detention centres operating in Libya, holding over 5,000 asylum seekers. While they are officially run by the government, in reality it is Libya\u2019s complex patchwork of militias that are in control.","summary":"In February 2019, the Libyan government revealed that there were 23 detention centres operating in Libya, holding over 5,000 asylum seekers. While they are officially run by the government, in reality it is Libya\u2019s complex patchwork of militias that are in control.","keySentence":"","url":"unhcr-in-libya-part-4-the-detention-centres-the-map-and-the-stories","canonical":"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/2019\/10\/03\/unhcr-in-libya-part-4-the-detention-centres-the-map-and-the-stories","masterCms":"v2","plainText":"When NGO workers arrived at the Janzoor detention centre in Libya in October 2018 to collect 11 unaccompanied minors due to be returned to their country of origin, they were shocked to find that the young people had completely disappeared. \n\nThe failed asylum seekers were registered and ready to go, a staff member at the International Organisation of Migration, who wished to remain anonymous, told Euronews. It took six months to find out what had happened to the group. \n\n\u201cThey were sold and their families were asked for ransom\u201d, the former staff member said. \n\nIn February 2019, the Libyan government revealed that there were 23 detention centres operating in Libya, holding over 5,000 asylum seekers. While they are officially run by the government, in reality it is Libya\u2019s complex patchwork of militias that are in control. \n\nEven those ostensibly run by Libya\u2019s Directorate for Combatting Illegal Migration (DCIM) are effectively under the control of whichever armed group controls the neighbourhood where a centre is located. \n\nRule of militias \n\nMilitias, also known as \u201ckatibas\u201d, are de-facto in control of the gates of the centres and the management. In many cases, migrants and refugees are under arrest in locations which are not considered official detention facilities, but \u201cholding places\u201d for investigation. \n\nBy correct protocol, they should be sent to proper detention facilities, but in reality procedures are seldom respected and asylum seekers are detained with no legal review or rights. \n\nFor many migrants and refugees, the ordeal begins at sea. \n\nAccording to the Libyan coast guard, from January to August 2019, nearly 6,000 people were intercepted and brought back to Libya. \n\nOn September 19, a man from Sudan died after being shot in the stomach hours after being returned to shore. \n\nThe IOM, whose staff witnessed the attack, said it occurred at Abusitta disembarkation point in Tripoli, when 103 people that had been returned to shore were resisting being sent back to detention centres. \n\nIOM staff who were on the scene, reported that armed men began shooting in the air when several migrants tried to run away from their guards. \n\n\u201cThe death is a stark reminder of the grim conditions faced by migrants picked up by the Coast Guard after paying smugglers to take them to Europe, only to find themselves put into detention centres\u201d said IOM Spokesperson Leonard Doyle. \n\nWith conflict escalating in Tripoli and many detention centres located on the frontline, the majority of the people intercepted by Libyan coast guards are brought to al-Khoms, a coastal city 120km east of the Libyan capital. \n\nTortured, sold, and released \n\nAccording to UN sources, guards at the city\u2019s two detention facilities - al-Khoms and Souq al-Khamis - have either facilitated access to the militias or were afraid to deny them access. \n\n\u201cLet me be honest with you, I don\u2019t trust anyone in al-Khoms centre,\u201d a former DCIM official told Euronews. \n\n\u201cThe detention centre has been officially closed by the DCIM but the militia there do whatever they want and they don\u2019t respect the orders given by the Ministry of Interior. \n\n\u201cPeople have been tortured, sold and released after paying money. The management and the militia in al-Khoms, they act independently from the government\u201d. \n\nLast June, during the protection sector coordination meeting in Tripoli, UN agencies and international organisations raised the question of people disappearing on a daily basis. \n\n\u201cIn one week at least 100 detainees disappeared and despite the closure of the centre, the Libyan coast guard continued to bring refugees to al-Khoms detention centre\u201d according to a note of the meeting seen by Euronews. \n\nThe head of an international organisation present at the meeting, who asked to remain anonymous, said: \u201cMany organisations have been turning their back on the situation, as they were not visiting the centre anymore. \n\n\u201c19 people from Eritrea were at risk, including young ladies between 14 and 19 years old\u201d. \n\nDuring a press briefing last June, the spokesman for UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Rupert Colville, reported that women held in detention have been sold into sexual exploitation. \n\nDavid, a migrant who had been detained in Misrata detention centre was able to get out after transiting from a safe house in al-Khoms. He said that centre staff \u201chad been extorting money from detainees for months. \n\n\u201cI didn't have a choice as the UN refused to register me because I come from Central African Republic and my nationality is not among the one recognised by UNHCR.\u201d \n\nDetention centres are still open \n\nIn August 2019, Libyan authorities in Tripoli confirmed the shutdown of three detention centres in Misrata, Khoms and Tajoura, but DCIM officers and migrants held in detention confirmed to Euronews that the centres are still open. \n\nWhile it is impossible to independently verify the current status of the facilities - as as the Ministry of Interior in Tripoli does not authorise access to them - Euronews was able to speak on the phone with detainees. \n\n\u201cJust bring a letter with the authorisation from the Ministry of Interior and I will let you enter,\u201d said one commander from Tajoura on the phone, confirming that the centre was still running. \n\nAnother source at the DCIM in Tripoli mentioned that Tajoura was still running and the militia was mainly arresting people from street to fill the hangars again. \n\nThe decision to close the Az-Z\u0101wiyah detention centre - mentioned in PART 1 and 2 - was taken in April 2018 by former head of DCIM Colonel Mohamed Besher. But the centre has instead been transformed into an arrest and investigation centre. \n\nLocated at the Az-Z\u0101wiyah Refinery, which is secured by Al-Nasser brigade since 2011, it is close to the base of the Az-Z\u0101wiyah coastguard \n\nBoth the commander of the Libyan Coast Guard\u2019s Unit and the head of Al-Nasr brigade are sanctioned by UN and the United States for alleged involvement in human trafficking and migrant smuggling. \n\nMohammed Kushlaf is working in cooperation with \u201cOsama\u201d (\u27a1\ufe0f SEE PART 2), who is in charge of the detention facility. His name appears 67 times in the recent investigation conducted by Italian prosecutor Luigi Patronaggio. \n\n\u2018Inhumane conditions\u2019 \n\nThe investigation had \u201cconfirmed the inhumane conditions\u201d endured by many migrants and \u201cthe need to act, at an international level, to protect their most basic human rights.\u201d \n\nThe Government of National Accord has supported the UN sanctions and issued public statements of condemnation against the trafficking and smuggling of migrants. \n\nThe Libyan prosecutor has also issued an order to suspend the commander of the Libyan Coast Guard and bring him into custody for investigations, although this was never implemented, confirmed a Libyan lawyer working at the Ministry of Justice. \n\nSources at the DCIM mentioned that between September 2018 and April 2019 - when the Libyan National Army (LNA) troops guided by the general Khalifa Haftar seized Tripoli's southern suburbs \u2013 many detention centres were located near the clashes. \n\nSalaheddin, Ain Zara, Qasr Bin Ghashir and Tariq Al Matar detention centres have been closed because of the conflict. \n\nAs a result, large groups of refugees and migrants have been displaced or transferred to other locations. A DCIM officer in Tripoli mentioned that \u201cThe Tariq Al Matar centre was in the middle of the clashes and many refugees left to find safety in other areas after a few people were injured. A group was transferred to Ain Zara and another to Janzour detention centre, some 20 kilometres southwest of Tripoli's centre.\u201d \n\nMigrants being recruited to help militia in Libya's civil war \n\nIn September and several times in December and January, refugees say they were forced to move and pack weapons as fighting between rival armed groups in the capital of Tripoli flared up. \n\nThey also engaged directly with local militia, from the Tripoli suburb of Tarhouna, that was controlling Qasr Bin Ghashir detention centre at the time. \n\n\u201cNo one was fighting on the front but they would ask us to open and close the gate and move and pack weapons\u201d, said Musa, a Sudanese refugee who left Qasr Bin Ghashir in April following the attack. \n\nOn October 2, Abdalmajed Adam, a refugee from South Sudan was also injured by a random bullet on his shoulder and was taken to a military hospital,\u201d adds Musa. \n\nThe militia who is controlling the area where Abu Salim detention centre is located is known as Ghaniwa and is aligned to the GNA. \n\nThe group has been asking refugees, especially Sudanese \u2013 as they speak Arabic - to follow them to the frontline. \n\n\u201cLast August they bought us to Wadi Al-Rabea in southern Tripoli, and asked us to load weapons. I was one of them. They took five of us from the centre,\u201d said Amir, a Sudanese asylum seeker who is detained in Abu Salim. \n\nA former DCIM officer confirmed that in June 2018, the head of Abu Salim DCIM, Mohamed al-Mashay (aka Abu Azza), was killed by an armed group following internal disputes over power. \n\nThe Qasr Bin Ghashir detention centre, in which 700 people were locked up, was attacked on April 23. Video and photographic evidence shows refugees and migrants trapped in detention having incurred gunshot wounds. \n\nMultiple reports suggested several deaths and at least 12 people injured. A former DCIM officer mentioned that behind the attack there was a dispute over the control of the territory: it is a very strategic point being the main road to enter to Tripoli. \n\n","htmlText":"<p>When NGO workers arrived at the Janzoor detention centre in Libya in October 2018 to collect 11 unaccompanied minors due to be returned to their country of origin, they were shocked to find that the young people had completely disappeared.<\/p>\n<p>The failed asylum seekers were registered and ready to go, a staff member at the International Organisation of Migration, who wished to remain anonymous, told Euronews. It took six months to find out what had happened to the group.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey were sold and their families were asked for ransom\u201d, the former staff member said.<\/p>\n<p>In February 2019, the Libyan government revealed that there were 23 detention centres operating in Libya, holding over 5,000 asylum seekers. While they are officially run by the government, in reality it is Libya\u2019s complex patchwork of militias that are in control.<\/p>\n<p>Even those ostensibly run by Libya\u2019s Directorate for Combatting Illegal Migration (DCIM) are effectively under the control of whichever armed group controls the neighbourhood where a centre is located.<\/p>\n<h2>Rule of militias<\/h2>\n<p>Militias, also known as \u201ckatibas\u201d, are de-facto in control of the gates of the centres and the management. In many cases, migrants and refugees are under arrest in locations which are not considered official detention facilities, but \u201cholding places\u201d for investigation.<\/p>\n<p>By correct protocol, they should be sent to proper detention facilities, but in reality procedures are seldom respected and asylum seekers are detained with no legal review or rights.<\/p>\n<p>For many migrants and refugees, the ordeal begins at sea.<\/p>\n<p>According to the Libyan coast guard, from January to August 2019, nearly 6,000 people were intercepted and brought back to Libya.<\/p>\n<p>On September 19, a man from Sudan died after being shot in the stomach hours after being returned to shore.<\/p>\n<p>The IOM, whose staff witnessed the attack, said it occurred at Abusitta disembarkation point in Tripoli, when 103 people that had been returned to shore were resisting being sent back to detention centres.<\/p>\n<p>IOM staff who were on the scene, reported that armed men began shooting in the air when several migrants tried to run away from their guards.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe death is a stark reminder of the grim conditions faced by migrants picked up by the Coast Guard after paying smugglers to take them to Europe, only to find themselves put into detention centres\u201d said IOM Spokesperson Leonard Doyle.<\/p>\n<p>With conflict escalating in Tripoli and many detention centres located on the frontline, the majority of the people intercepted by Libyan coast guards are brought to al-Khoms, a coastal city 120km east of the Libyan capital.<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-image widget--size-fullwidth widget--animation-fade-in widget--align-center\" data-ratio=\"0.75\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio--auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <figure class=\"widget__figure\">\n <img class=\"widgetImage__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////static.euronews.com//articles//stories//04//14//26//32//808x608_cmsv2_4aec5d62-d95a-5f2b-91bb-8ae7aa395ba3-4142632.jpg/" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/32\/384x288_cmsv2_4aec5d62-d95a-5f2b-91bb-8ae7aa395ba3-4142632.jpg 384w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/32\/640x480_cmsv2_4aec5d62-d95a-5f2b-91bb-8ae7aa395ba3-4142632.jpg 640w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/32\/750x563_cmsv2_4aec5d62-d95a-5f2b-91bb-8ae7aa395ba3-4142632.jpg 750w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/32\/828x621_cmsv2_4aec5d62-d95a-5f2b-91bb-8ae7aa395ba3-4142632.jpg 828w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/32\/1080x810_cmsv2_4aec5d62-d95a-5f2b-91bb-8ae7aa395ba3-4142632.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/32\/1200x900_cmsv2_4aec5d62-d95a-5f2b-91bb-8ae7aa395ba3-4142632.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/32\/1920x1440_cmsv2_4aec5d62-d95a-5f2b-91bb-8ae7aa395ba3-4142632.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 95vw, (max-width: 1330px) 70vw, 900px\"\/>\n <figcaption class=\"widget__caption\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionWrap\">\n \n <span class=\"widget__captionCredit\">Khoms - Photo: Sara Creta<\/span>\n <\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<h2>Tortured, sold, and released<\/h2>\n<p>According to UN sources, guards at the city\u2019s two detention facilities - al-Khoms and Souq al-Khamis - have either facilitated access to the militias or were afraid to deny them access.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLet me be honest with you, I don\u2019t trust anyone in al-Khoms centre,\u201d a former DCIM official told Euronews.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe detention centre has been officially closed by the DCIM but the militia there do whatever they want and they don\u2019t respect the orders given by the Ministry of Interior.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeople have been tortured, sold and released after paying money. The management and the militia in al-Khoms, they act independently from the government\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Last June, during the protection sector coordination meeting in Tripoli, UN agencies and international organisations raised the question of people disappearing on a daily basis.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn one week at least 100 detainees disappeared and despite the closure of the centre, the Libyan coast guard continued to bring refugees to al-Khoms detention centre\u201d according to a note of the meeting seen by Euronews.<\/p>\n<p>The head of an international organisation present at the meeting, who asked to remain anonymous, said: \u201cMany organisations have been turning their back on the situation, as they were not visiting the centre anymore.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c19 people from Eritrea were at risk, including young ladies between 14 and 19 years old\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>During a press briefing last June, the spokesman for UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Rupert Colville, reported that women held in detention have been sold into sexual exploitation.<\/p>\n<p>David, a migrant who had been detained in Misrata detention centre was able to get out after transiting from a safe house in al-Khoms. He said that centre staff \u201chad been extorting money from detainees for months.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI didn't have a choice as the UN refused to register me because I come from Central African Republic and my nationality is not among the one recognised by UNHCR.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-image widget--size-fullscreen widget--animation-fade-in widget--align-center\" data-ratio=\"0.6666666666666666\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio--auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <figure class=\"widget__figure\">\n <img class=\"widgetImage__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////static.euronews.com//articles//stories//04//14//26//32//1052x701_cmsv2_8e68ca15-5504-5762-a0fb-2ecf046581fe-4142632.jpg/" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/32\/384x256_cmsv2_8e68ca15-5504-5762-a0fb-2ecf046581fe-4142632.jpg 384w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/32\/640x427_cmsv2_8e68ca15-5504-5762-a0fb-2ecf046581fe-4142632.jpg 640w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/32\/750x500_cmsv2_8e68ca15-5504-5762-a0fb-2ecf046581fe-4142632.jpg 750w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/32\/828x552_cmsv2_8e68ca15-5504-5762-a0fb-2ecf046581fe-4142632.jpg 828w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/32\/1080x720_cmsv2_8e68ca15-5504-5762-a0fb-2ecf046581fe-4142632.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/32\/1200x800_cmsv2_8e68ca15-5504-5762-a0fb-2ecf046581fe-4142632.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/32\/1920x1280_cmsv2_8e68ca15-5504-5762-a0fb-2ecf046581fe-4142632.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"100vw\"\/>\n <figcaption class=\"widget__caption\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionWrap\">\n \n <span class=\"widget__captionCredit\">John has been deteined in Tarik Al Sika Detention Center for more than 2 years. He only received a piece of papaer from UNHCR with his registration number. Photo: Sara Creta<\/span>\n <\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<h2>Detention centres are still open<\/h2>\n<p>In August 2019, Libyan authorities in Tripoli confirmed the shutdown of three detention centres in Misrata, Khoms and Tajoura, but DCIM officers and migrants held in detention confirmed to Euronews that the centres are still open.<\/p>\n<p>While it is impossible to independently verify the current status of the facilities - as as the Ministry of Interior in Tripoli does not authorise access to them - Euronews was able to speak on the phone with detainees.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJust bring a letter with the authorisation from the Ministry of Interior and I will let you enter,\u201d said one commander from Tajoura on the phone, confirming that the centre was still running.<\/p>\n<p>Another source at the DCIM in Tripoli mentioned that Tajoura was still running and the militia was mainly arresting people from street to fill the hangars again.<\/p>\n<p>The decision to close the Az-Z\u0101wiyah detention centre - mentioned in PART 1 and 2 - was taken in April 2018 by former head of DCIM Colonel Mohamed Besher. But the centre has instead been transformed into an arrest and investigation centre.<\/p>\n<p>Located at the Az-Z\u0101wiyah Refinery, which is secured by Al-Nasser brigade since 2011, it is close to the base of the Az-Z\u0101wiyah coastguard<\/p>\n<p>Both the commander of the Libyan Coast Guard\u2019s Unit and the head of Al-Nasr brigade are sanctioned by UN and the United States for alleged involvement in human trafficking and migrant smuggling.<\/p>\n<p>Mohammed Kushlaf is working in cooperation with \u201cOsama\u201d <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.euronews.com//2019//10//02//unhcr-in-libya-part-2-migrants-in-detention-centres-why-does-unhcr-want-to-keep-us-in-pris/">(/u27a1/ufe0f SEE PART 2),<\/a> who is in charge of the detention facility. His name appears 67 times in the recent investigation conducted by Italian prosecutor Luigi Patronaggio.<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-image widget--size-fullwidth widget--animation-fade-in widget--align-center\" data-ratio=\"0.6666666666666666\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio--auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <figure class=\"widget__figure\">\n <img class=\"widgetImage__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////static.euronews.com//articles//stories//04//14//26//32//808x539_cmsv2_0e22fb36-86ce-5576-9f09-40d580ffa9c7-4142632.jpg/" alt=\"Tewolde, 23 years old "In April 18 I tried to cross again from Zuwara. The LCG caught us and brought us back to Zuwara DC, where we stayed 10 days, then Gharyan. Then I was transferred to Tareq Sikka, Tareq el-Matar, Zintan and Gharyan"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/32\/384x256_cmsv2_0e22fb36-86ce-5576-9f09-40d580ffa9c7-4142632.jpg 384w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/32\/640x427_cmsv2_0e22fb36-86ce-5576-9f09-40d580ffa9c7-4142632.jpg 640w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/32\/750x500_cmsv2_0e22fb36-86ce-5576-9f09-40d580ffa9c7-4142632.jpg 750w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/32\/828x552_cmsv2_0e22fb36-86ce-5576-9f09-40d580ffa9c7-4142632.jpg 828w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/32\/1080x720_cmsv2_0e22fb36-86ce-5576-9f09-40d580ffa9c7-4142632.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/32\/1200x800_cmsv2_0e22fb36-86ce-5576-9f09-40d580ffa9c7-4142632.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/32\/1920x1280_cmsv2_0e22fb36-86ce-5576-9f09-40d580ffa9c7-4142632.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 95vw, (max-width: 1330px) 70vw, 900px\"\/>\n <figcaption class=\"widget__caption\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionWrap\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionText\">Photo: Sara Creta<\/span>\n <span class=\"widget__captionCredit\">Tewolde, 23 years old "In April 18 I tried to cross again from Zuwara. The LCG caught us and brought us back to Zuwara DC, where we stayed 10 days, then Gharyan. Then I was transferred to Tareq Sikka, Tareq el-Matar, Zintan and Gharyan"<\/span>\n <\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<h2>\u2018Inhumane conditions\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>The investigation had \u201cconfirmed the inhumane conditions\u201d endured by many migrants and \u201cthe need to act, at an international level, to protect their most basic human rights.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Government of National Accord has supported the UN sanctions and issued public statements of condemnation against the trafficking and smuggling of migrants.<\/p>\n<p>The Libyan prosecutor has also issued an order to suspend the commander of the Libyan Coast Guard and bring him into custody for investigations, although this was never implemented, confirmed a Libyan lawyer working at the Ministry of Justice.<\/p>\n<p>Sources at the DCIM mentioned that between September 2018 and April 2019 - when the Libyan National Army (LNA) troops guided by the general Khalifa Haftar seized Tripoli's southern suburbs \u2013 many detention centres were located near the clashes.<\/p>\n<p>Salaheddin, Ain Zara, Qasr Bin Ghashir and Tariq Al Matar detention centres have been closed because of the conflict.<\/p>\n<p>As a result, large groups of refugees and migrants have been displaced or transferred to other locations. A DCIM officer in Tripoli mentioned that \u201cThe Tariq Al Matar centre was in the middle of the clashes and many refugees left to find safety in other areas after a few people were injured. A group was transferred to Ain Zara and another to Janzour detention centre, some 20 kilometres southwest of Tripoli's centre.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-image widget--size-fullwidth widget--animation-fade-in widget--align-center\" data-ratio=\"0.6666666666666666\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio--auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <figure class=\"widget__figure\">\n <img class=\"widgetImage__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////static.euronews.com//articles//stories//04//14//26//32//808x539_cmsv2_d603a86d-7d9c-54fd-aa12-d6afbc4be5f5-4142632.jpg/" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/32\/384x256_cmsv2_d603a86d-7d9c-54fd-aa12-d6afbc4be5f5-4142632.jpg 384w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/32\/640x427_cmsv2_d603a86d-7d9c-54fd-aa12-d6afbc4be5f5-4142632.jpg 640w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/32\/750x500_cmsv2_d603a86d-7d9c-54fd-aa12-d6afbc4be5f5-4142632.jpg 750w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/32\/828x552_cmsv2_d603a86d-7d9c-54fd-aa12-d6afbc4be5f5-4142632.jpg 828w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/32\/1080x720_cmsv2_d603a86d-7d9c-54fd-aa12-d6afbc4be5f5-4142632.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/32\/1200x800_cmsv2_d603a86d-7d9c-54fd-aa12-d6afbc4be5f5-4142632.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/32\/1920x1280_cmsv2_d603a86d-7d9c-54fd-aa12-d6afbc4be5f5-4142632.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 95vw, (max-width: 1330px) 70vw, 900px\"\/>\n <figcaption class=\"widget__caption\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionWrap\">\n \n <span class=\"widget__captionCredit\">Detention center in Khoms. Photo: Sara Creta<\/span>\n <\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<h2>Migrants being recruited to help militia in Libya's civil war<\/h2>\n<p>In September and several times in December and January, refugees say they were forced to move and pack weapons as fighting between rival armed groups in the capital of Tripoli flared up.<\/p>\n<p>They also engaged directly with local militia, from the Tripoli suburb of Tarhouna, that was controlling Qasr Bin Ghashir detention centre at the time.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo one was fighting on the front but they would ask us to open and close the gate and move and pack weapons\u201d, said Musa, a Sudanese refugee who left Qasr Bin Ghashir in April following the attack.<\/p>\n<p>On October 2, Abdalmajed Adam, a refugee from South Sudan was also injured by a random bullet on his shoulder and was taken to a military hospital,\u201d adds Musa.<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-image widget--size-fullscreen widget--animation-fade-in widget--align-center\" data-ratio=\"0.75\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio--auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <figure class=\"widget__figure\">\n <img class=\"widgetImage__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////static.euronews.com//articles//stories//04//14//26//32//1052x791_cmsv2_679cc1f5-1da9-5590-bb29-5f5d39707102-4142632.jpg/" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/32\/384x288_cmsv2_679cc1f5-1da9-5590-bb29-5f5d39707102-4142632.jpg 384w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/32\/640x480_cmsv2_679cc1f5-1da9-5590-bb29-5f5d39707102-4142632.jpg 640w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/32\/750x563_cmsv2_679cc1f5-1da9-5590-bb29-5f5d39707102-4142632.jpg 750w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/32\/828x621_cmsv2_679cc1f5-1da9-5590-bb29-5f5d39707102-4142632.jpg 828w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/32\/1080x810_cmsv2_679cc1f5-1da9-5590-bb29-5f5d39707102-4142632.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/32\/1200x900_cmsv2_679cc1f5-1da9-5590-bb29-5f5d39707102-4142632.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/32\/1920x1440_cmsv2_679cc1f5-1da9-5590-bb29-5f5d39707102-4142632.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"100vw\"\/>\n <figcaption class=\"widget__caption\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionWrap\">\n \n <span class=\"widget__captionCredit\">Detention in Misrata<\/span>\n <\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<p>The militia who is controlling the area where Abu Salim detention centre is located is known as Ghaniwa and is aligned to the GNA.<\/p>\n<p>The group has been asking refugees, especially Sudanese \u2013 as they speak Arabic - to follow them to the frontline.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLast August they bought us to Wadi Al-Rabea in southern Tripoli, and asked us to load weapons. I was one of them. They took five of us from the centre,\u201d said Amir, a Sudanese asylum seeker who is detained in Abu Salim.<\/p>\n<p>A former DCIM officer confirmed that in June 2018, the head of Abu Salim DCIM, Mohamed al-Mashay (aka Abu Azza), was killed by an armed group following internal disputes over power.<\/p>\n<p>The Qasr Bin Ghashir detention centre, in which 700 people were locked up, was attacked on April 23. Video and photographic evidence shows refugees and migrants trapped in detention having incurred gunshot wounds.<\/p>\n<p>Multiple reports suggested several deaths and at least 12 people injured. A former DCIM officer mentioned that behind the attack there was a dispute over the control of the territory: it is a very strategic point being the main road to enter to Tripoli.<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-image widget--size-fullscreen widget--animation-fade-in widget--align-center\" data-ratio=\"0.6666666666666666\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio--auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <figure class=\"widget__figure\">\n <img class=\"widgetImage__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////static.euronews.com//articles//stories//04//14//26//32//1052x701_cmsv2_12730d39-c1fa-5ac6-bd19-0bd588385e4d-4142632.jpg/" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/32\/384x256_cmsv2_12730d39-c1fa-5ac6-bd19-0bd588385e4d-4142632.jpg 384w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/32\/640x427_cmsv2_12730d39-c1fa-5ac6-bd19-0bd588385e4d-4142632.jpg 640w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/32\/750x500_cmsv2_12730d39-c1fa-5ac6-bd19-0bd588385e4d-4142632.jpg 750w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/32\/828x552_cmsv2_12730d39-c1fa-5ac6-bd19-0bd588385e4d-4142632.jpg 828w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/32\/1080x720_cmsv2_12730d39-c1fa-5ac6-bd19-0bd588385e4d-4142632.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/32\/1200x800_cmsv2_12730d39-c1fa-5ac6-bd19-0bd588385e4d-4142632.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/32\/1920x1280_cmsv2_12730d39-c1fa-5ac6-bd19-0bd588385e4d-4142632.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"100vw\"\/>\n <figcaption class=\"widget__caption\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionWrap\">\n \n <span class=\"widget__captionCredit\">A funeral in Tripoli. Photo: Sara Creta<\/span>\n <\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-freeform\nwidget--size-fullwidth\nwidget--align-center\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio--auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <div style=\"background-color:#DBF3FA; font-size:0.8em; padding:8px;margin: 0.2em 0.5em;border-radius:8px;width:95%;\"> <h4>UNHCR in Libya, the investigation<\/h4> <p> <li><a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.euronews.com//2019//10//02//unhcr-in-libya-part-1-from-standing-withrefugees-to-standing-withstates/">UNHCR in Libya Part 1: From standing #WithRefugees to standing #WithStates? <\/a><\/li> <li><a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.euronews.com//2019//10//02//unhcr-in-libya-part-2-migrants-in-detention-centres-why-does-unhcr-want-to-keep-us-in-pris/">UNHCR in Libya Part 2: Migrants in detention centres: 'Why does UNHCR want to keep us in prison?'<\/a><\/li> <li><a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.euronews.com//2019//10//03//unhcr-in-libya-part-3-former-staffer-blows-whistle-on-favouritism-and-culture-of-impunity/">UNHCR in Libya Part 3: Former staffer blows whistle on favouritism and 'culture of impunity' <\/a><\/li> <li><a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.euronews.com//2019//10//03//unhcr-in-libya-part-4-the-detention-centres-the-map-and-the-stories/">UNHCR in Libya Part 4: The detention centres - the map and the stories<\/a><\/li> <\/p> <\/div> \n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n","hashtag":null,"createdAt":1568026972,"updatedAt":1723539856,"publishedAt":1570114480,"firstPublishedAt":1570114484,"lastPublishedAt":1570460701,"expiresAt":0,"images":[{"url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/26\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_2963b54e-fc49-5fc2-8cac-ab418d23067f-4142626.jpg","altText":null,"caption":null,"captionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"Migrants in the Tarik Sika centre - Photo: Sara Creta","sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"callToActionText":null,"width":1500,"height":1000},{"url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/32\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_b121fb78-a182-5c73-ad6e-1f36d9db0d88-4142632.jpg","altText":null,"caption":null,"captionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"Asyas, 30 years old, was hospitalised in Alriyada in Tripoli between 4 and 16 july. He\u2019s now left alone in a house in Gargareshm Tripoli suffering from acute Tubercolosis. He\u2019s not able to move: \"I'm just waiting to die\"","sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"callToActionText":null,"width":5760,"height":3840},{"url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/32\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_c7afc9a8-dcc0-5209-a44d-2c86c01d8fe4-4142632.jpg","altText":null,"caption":null,"captionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"Mr. Shibani. Photo: Sara Creta","sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"callToActionText":null,"width":5760,"height":3840},{"url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/32\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_679cc1f5-1da9-5590-bb29-5f5d39707102-4142632.jpg","altText":null,"caption":null,"captionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"Detention in Misrata","sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"callToActionText":null,"width":4032,"height":3024},{"url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/32\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_8580369c-fbdd-58b6-ad0f-3e489fbcfb3f-4142632.jpg","altText":null,"caption":null,"captionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"Detention in Misrata","sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"callToActionText":null,"width":4032,"height":3024},{"url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/32\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_12730d39-c1fa-5ac6-bd19-0bd588385e4d-4142632.jpg","altText":null,"caption":null,"captionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"Funeral","sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"callToActionText":null,"width":1500,"height":1000},{"url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/32\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_d603a86d-7d9c-54fd-aa12-d6afbc4be5f5-4142632.jpg","altText":null,"caption":null,"captionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"Detention center in Khoms. Photo: Sara Creta","sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"callToActionText":null,"width":5184,"height":3456},{"url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/32\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_49a12214-ff95-5149-9485-66736d726c89-4142632.jpg","altText":null,"caption":null,"captionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"Detention center in Khoms. Copyright: Sara Creta","sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"callToActionText":null,"width":5184,"height":3456},{"url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/32\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_8e68ca15-5504-5762-a0fb-2ecf046581fe-4142632.jpg","altText":null,"caption":null,"captionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"Photo: Sara Creta","sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"callToActionText":null,"width":5760,"height":3840},{"url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/32\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_0e22fb36-86ce-5576-9f09-40d580ffa9c7-4142632.jpg","altText":null,"caption":null,"captionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"Tewolde, 23 years old. Photo: Sara Creta","sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"callToActionText":null,"width":5760,"height":3840},{"url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/32\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_4aec5d62-d95a-5f2b-91bb-8ae7aa395ba3-4142632.jpg","altText":null,"caption":null,"captionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"Khoms - Suq al-Khamis. 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UNHCR IN LIBYA: WHISTLEBLOWER","daletPyramidId":null,"channels":[{"id":1},{"id":2},{"id":4},{"id":5},{"id":12}],"status":2,"title":"UNHCR in Libya Part 3: Former staffer blows whistle on favouritism and 'culture of impunity'","titleSeo":null,"titleListing1":"UNHCR in Libya Part 3: Former staffer blows whistle on favouritism","titleListing2":"UNHCR in Libya Part 3: Former staffer blows whistle on favouritism and 'culture of impunity'","leadin":"Euronews has been able to speak under the condition of anonymity with a former Libyan UNHCR staffer who has been working in Tripoli.","summary":"Euronews has been able to speak under the condition of anonymity with a former Libyan UNHCR staffer who has been working in Tripoli.","keySentence":"","url":"unhcr-in-libya-part-3-former-staffer-blows-whistle-on-favouritism-and-culture-of-impunity","canonical":"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/2019\/10\/03\/unhcr-in-libya-part-3-former-staffer-blows-whistle-on-favouritism-and-culture-of-impunity","masterCms":"v2","plainText":"Libya\u2019s United Nations Refugee Agency has been branded \u201cthe worst in the region\u201d by a former staff member who has alleged corruption, mismanagement and incompetence in its dealings with tens of thousands of vulnerable refugees and asylum seekers. \n\nThe former staff member, who spoke to Euronews on condition of anonymity, painted an image of an agency overstretched and out of its depth, with asylum seekers left homeless, deprived of medical care and in legal limbo in an increasingly violent and unstable Libya. \n\nMigrants and refugees on the ground told Euronews that they had even bribed their way into Libya\u2019s notorious detention centres in an effort to speed up their asylum claims. There they face exploitation at the hands of militia groups, which run the centres in all but name. \n\nThe former staff member described a chaotic infrastructure at UNHCR, where he worked for several years, with asylum seekers registered under incorrect nationalities and others forced to wait for months to hear the status of their applications. \n\nMeanwhile, questions about UNHCR in Libya have stretched to procurement. An internal audit found that the agency had purchased laptop computers at inflated prices (eight laptops for just under $50,000) and used two travel agents to purchase almost $200,000 worth of flight tickets. The audit also notes that \u201cno competitive bidding was conducted for the travel services\u201d (sect. D of OIOS report 2019\/007). \n\nMedical care \n\nEuronews has spoken to dozens of asylum seekers on the ground in Libya, including a man suffering from pulmonary tuberculosis. Asyas, 30, was discharged from the hospital by a UN medical partner, the International Medical Corps (IMC), and was now living in a private home in Tripoli. \n\n\u201cI\u2019m just waiting to die,\u201d he told us. \n\nA medical source in Tripoli said that the hospitalisation of migrants and refugees - especially those cases with tuberculosis - is expensive, and some public hospitals lack the equipment to correctly diagnose the cases. \n\nAs a result, NGOs have to find a balance between paying very high bills to private hospitals or discharging patients too early, the source concludes. \n\nThe IMC told Euronews it cannot comment on the case. \n\nThe feeling on the streets is one of abandonment by international institutions. Asylum seekers in urban areas believe that the UN agency will be there to help them find accommodation for example but the UNHCR are not obligated to do so. \n\nIn one case, a group of Sudanese refugees \u2013 including expectant mothers and newborn babies - have been living for several months in an abandoned warehouse in an area of Tripoli known as al-Riyadiya. \n\nThe group were since evicted from the warehouse and are now sleeping in front the UNHCR community day centre, waiting to be moved to safer housing. \n\nCommenting on the experiences Euronews uncovered, a spokesperson for the UNHCR, Charlie Yaxley, said: \u201cLife for many refugees is extremely difficult and what we can do is at times very limited.\u201d \n\nLibya in the eye of the storm \n\nLibya has been at the forefront of the migrant crisis and is the embarkation point for many boats that attempt to cross the Mediterranean to Italy. \n\nLibya\u2019s lawlessness since the 2011 war that followed the overthrow of Colonel Gaddafi has seen the rise of numerous militia groups, all competing for a piece of the lucrative migrant trade. \n\nA large part of that trade is the operation of detention centres, officially run by the government but effectively controlled by militia groups. Asylum seekers detained in Libya are held at the centres, where they are often subject to abuse and violence. \n\nThe conditions at detention centres has got so bad that the UNHCR prioritise the processing of refugees and migrants that are held in them - as they are considered among the most vulnerable. This has led to asylum seekers actually bribing their way into centres, sources say. \n\nIn December, migrants and refugees detained in Khoms Suq al-Khamis started a hunger strike to persuade UNHCR to visit the centre and register them in the hope that this might stop them from being sold and disappeared. \n\nAmina, a Somali refugee now in Triq al-Sikka facility in Tripoli confirmed to Euronews that she paid money to be \u201caccepted into detention and have a better chance to be registered and evacuated\". \n\nThe former UN staff member detailed one case where he claims a pregnant rape victim had opted to return to a detention centre in order to be considered for evacuation. \n\nAt the Abu Salim detention centre, Eritrean refugees have been begging the detention centre manager to admit them, with the sole hope of being evacuated. \n\nOthers are paying to get themselves in to the UNHCR's Gathering and Departure Facility (GDF) - managed by the Libyan Ministry of Interior, UNHCR and UNHCR\u2019s partner LibAid - in Tripoli, where refugees are normally hosted until their transfer to another state is confirmed. \n\nThere, one refugee awaiting evacuation told Euronews: \u201cThe guards who are working at the gate, brought inside Somalian and Eritrean women; they paid 2000 dinars (around 430\u20ac) each. We told this to UNHCR, and they asked us not to tell anyone\u201d. \n\nCommenting on the allegations, Yaxley said: \u201cUNHCR takes any claims of misconduct very seriously. Any claim that is found to be valid following an investigation is followed by a zero tolerance approach. We strongly encourage any victims to directly contact our Inspector General\u2019s Office.\u201d. \n\nLack of information \n\nAside from bribery, the former employee said that the fate of individual asylum seekers and their families in Libya largely relies on luck. \n\n\u201cIt\u2019s up to the office,\u201d the source said. \n\n\u201cAt the beginning of 2019, the UNHCR registered a woman from Ivory Coast ( which is not among the 9 nationalities that are prioritised according to Cochetel ), only because there was a recommendation letter from a higher rank. \n\n\u201cSometimes you may wait months to register a case because no one will give you approval; there are cases of favouritism and a lazy attitude. All registration processes are unclear.\u201d \n\nMany refugees and asylum seekers in Tripoli complained to Euronews about the lack of information available to them about their personal case. The former employee said that this is part of a strategy at the agency in order to avoid having to deal with the huge amount of admin involved. \n\n\u201cIt\u2019s a general attitude not to answer refugees and keep them blind to avoid more requests. In Tripoli, refugees or asylum seekers are left without a clue. They don\u2019t know if they are accepted or rejected. \n\n\u201cThey receive very little information about their file and most of the time, no proper update about the process, or in case they have to appeal if their request has been rejected.\u201d \n\nThe source said that since September 2017 there is no system in place to appeal against rejection on their refugee status, and asylum seekers don\u2019t know they have the right to appeal the decision within 30 days. \n\nOne family from Nigeria, now detained in Az-Z\u0101wiyah detention centre, described their experience. \n\n\u201cThe first time we managed to meet UNHCR was secretly in Tarik Al Matar centre in July 2018. Since that time UNHCR is refusing to register us. When we try to ask about our cases they kept telling us later, next time, next time,\u201d the father said. \n\n\u201cSometimes they avoid us totally. Once, UNHCR has even advised us to return home. My youngest girl has been born in detention and the eldest have some traumatic effects due to a whole lot of horrible stuff they've experienced.\u201d \n\nMeanwhile the situation in Libya is only likely to get worse, with a bottleneck in some states like Niger slowing down the evacuation plan from Libya. \n\nThere are currently 1,174 evacuees from Libya staying in Niger, including 192 evacuated unaccompanied children, according to UNHCR. With the Emergency Transit Mechanism (ETM) at full capacity, many cases are still pending a decision. \n\n\"The Government of Niger has generously offered additional space for up to 1,500 refugees in the Emergency Transit Mechanism run by UNHCR in Niamey with financial support from the European Union,\" writes Cochetel in May 2018 . \n\nMistakes \n\nTo make the situation worse, according to the former employee, many mistakes have been made including nationalities wrongly assigned to individuals. \n\n\u201cUNHCR was registering Chadians as Sudanese, or Ethiopians as Eritreans. The UNHCR staff in Libya was not qualified to properly understand the situation,\u201d the source said. \n\nCommenting on that claim, Yaxley said: \u201cUNHCR staff are selected through the same processes as in all other operations worldwide, following human resources rules. There are over 100 national staff working in Libya. UNHCR does not work with external contractors.\u201d \n\nThe aforementioned concentration on nine specified nationalities was put in place in order to keep numbers down, the former staff member said. \n\nLibya\u2019s Undersecretary of the Ministry of Interior for Migration, Mohammed Al-Shibani, said that on the contrary the Libyan government is not refusing to register other nationalities. \u201cThe nationalities are determined by the UN not by us,\u201d he said. \n\nProcurement \n\nOn issues with procurement, the former staff member points Euronews at the internal UN audit of the operations in Libya, which found that UNHCR designated procurements to 12 partners worth $4.7 million and $4.0 million in 2017 and 2018 respectively. \n\nBut the mission \u201cdid not conduct any cost-benefit analysis\u201d, opting instead for direct procurement \u201cdespite the significant differences between official and market exchange rates. \n\nIn 2017 and 2018, \u201cthe mission designated procurement exceeding $100,000 to three partners without them being pre-qualified by the Procurement Service at headquarters\u201d. A lack of procurement plans resulted in ''unnecessary and higher\u201d costs. \n\nFor example, the audit found a transaction for eight laptops with total expenditure of $47,067 (equivalent to a unit cost per laptop of $5,883). Moreover, flight tickets amounting to $128,000 and $66,000 during 2017 and 2018 were bought from two different travel agencies without any clear process for selection, as mentioned in the audit and confirmed by a former UN source. \n\n\"The mission was unable to demonstrate it used its resources effectively and efficiently in providing for the essential needs of persons of concern. The lack of reporting also increased UNHCR's reputational risk\", reads the audit. \n\n","htmlText":"<p>Libya\u2019s United Nations Refugee Agency has been branded \u201cthe worst in the region\u201d by a former staff member who has alleged corruption, mismanagement and incompetence in its dealings with tens of thousands of vulnerable refugees and asylum seekers.<\/p>\n<p>The former staff member, who spoke to Euronews on condition of anonymity, painted an image of an agency overstretched and out of its depth, with asylum seekers left homeless, deprived of medical care and in legal limbo in an increasingly violent and unstable Libya.<\/p>\n<p>Migrants and refugees on the ground told Euronews that they had even bribed their way into Libya\u2019s notorious detention centres in an effort to speed up their asylum claims. There they face exploitation at the hands of militia groups, which run the centres in all but name.<\/p>\n<p>The former staff member described a chaotic infrastructure at UNHCR, where he worked for several years, with asylum seekers registered under incorrect nationalities and others forced to wait for months to hear the status of their applications.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, questions about UNHCR in Libya have stretched to procurement. An <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////oios.un.org//file//7433//download?token=U2-0pK3h\%22 target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\">internal audit<\/a> found that the agency had purchased laptop computers at inflated prices (eight laptops for just under $50,000) and used two travel agents to purchase almost $200,000 worth of flight tickets. The audit also notes that \u201cno competitive bidding was conducted for the travel services\u201d (sect. D of OIOS report 2019\/007).<\/p>\n<h2>Medical care<\/h2>\n<p>Euronews has spoken to dozens of asylum seekers on the ground in Libya, including a man suffering from pulmonary tuberculosis. Asyas, 30, was discharged from the hospital by a UN medical partner, the International Medical Corps (IMC), and was now living in a private home in Tripoli.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m just waiting to die,\u201d he told us.<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-image widget--size-fullwidth widget--animation-fade-in widget--align-center\" data-ratio=\"0.6666666666666666\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio--auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <figure class=\"widget__figure\">\n <img class=\"widgetImage__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////static.euronews.com//articles//stories//04//14//26//32//808x539_cmsv2_b121fb78-a182-5c73-ad6e-1f36d9db0d88-4142632.jpg/" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/32\/384x256_cmsv2_b121fb78-a182-5c73-ad6e-1f36d9db0d88-4142632.jpg 384w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/32\/640x427_cmsv2_b121fb78-a182-5c73-ad6e-1f36d9db0d88-4142632.jpg 640w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/32\/750x500_cmsv2_b121fb78-a182-5c73-ad6e-1f36d9db0d88-4142632.jpg 750w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/32\/828x552_cmsv2_b121fb78-a182-5c73-ad6e-1f36d9db0d88-4142632.jpg 828w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/32\/1080x720_cmsv2_b121fb78-a182-5c73-ad6e-1f36d9db0d88-4142632.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/32\/1200x800_cmsv2_b121fb78-a182-5c73-ad6e-1f36d9db0d88-4142632.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/32\/1920x1280_cmsv2_b121fb78-a182-5c73-ad6e-1f36d9db0d88-4142632.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 95vw, (max-width: 1024px) 80vw, (max-width: 1280px) 55vw, 728px\"\/>\n <figcaption class=\"widget__caption\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionWrap\">\n \n <span class=\"widget__captionCredit\">Asyas, 30 years old, was hospitalised in Alriyada in Tripoli between 4 and 16 July. He\u2019s now left alone in a house in Gargareshm Tripoli suffering from acute Tubercolosis. He\u2019s not able to move: "I'm just waiting to die"<\/span>\n <\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<p>A medical source in Tripoli said that the hospitalisation of migrants and refugees - especially those cases with tuberculosis - is expensive, and some public hospitals lack the equipment to correctly diagnose the cases.<\/p>\n<p>As a result, NGOs have to find a balance between paying very high bills to private hospitals or discharging patients too early, the source concludes.<\/p>\n<p>The IMC told Euronews it cannot comment on the case.<\/p>\n<p>The feeling on the streets is one of abandonment by international institutions. Asylum seekers in urban areas believe that the UN agency will be there to help them find accommodation for example but the UNHCR are not obligated to do so.<\/p>\n<p>In one case, a group of Sudanese refugees \u2013 including expectant mothers and newborn babies - have been living for several months in an abandoned warehouse in an area of Tripoli known as al-Riyadiya.<\/p>\n<p>The group were since evicted from the warehouse and are now sleeping in front the UNHCR community day centre, waiting to be moved to safer housing.<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-image widget--size-fullwidth widget--animation-fade-in widget--align-center\" data-ratio=\"0.6665\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio--auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <figure class=\"widget__figure\">\n <img class=\"widgetImage__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////static.euronews.com//articles//stories//04//14//26//26//808x539_cmsv2_c6b9afba-0cfc-5496-a9a0-bfd7073130ed-4142626.jpg/" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/26\/384x256_cmsv2_c6b9afba-0cfc-5496-a9a0-bfd7073130ed-4142626.jpg 384w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/26\/640x427_cmsv2_c6b9afba-0cfc-5496-a9a0-bfd7073130ed-4142626.jpg 640w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/26\/750x500_cmsv2_c6b9afba-0cfc-5496-a9a0-bfd7073130ed-4142626.jpg 750w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/26\/828x552_cmsv2_c6b9afba-0cfc-5496-a9a0-bfd7073130ed-4142626.jpg 828w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/26\/1080x720_cmsv2_c6b9afba-0cfc-5496-a9a0-bfd7073130ed-4142626.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/26\/1200x800_cmsv2_c6b9afba-0cfc-5496-a9a0-bfd7073130ed-4142626.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/26\/1920x1280_cmsv2_c6b9afba-0cfc-5496-a9a0-bfd7073130ed-4142626.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 95vw, (max-width: 1024px) 80vw, (max-width: 1280px) 55vw, 728px\"\/>\n <figcaption class=\"widget__caption\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionWrap\">\n \n <span class=\"widget__captionCredit\">Two months ago, a displaced refugee family in the Libyan capital found shelter in an abandoned warehouse in the area of al-Riyadiya, 400 meters from the UNHCR Community Day Center in Gurji, Tripoli. They feel unsafe, especially at night. Photo: Sara Creta<\/span>\n <\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<p>Commenting on the experiences Euronews uncovered, a spokesperson for the UNHCR, Charlie Yaxley, said: \u201cLife for many refugees is extremely difficult and what we can do is at times very limited.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Libya in the eye of the storm<\/h2>\n<p>Libya has been at the forefront of the migrant crisis and is the embarkation point for many boats that attempt to cross the Mediterranean to Italy.<\/p>\n<p>Libya\u2019s lawlessness since the 2011 war that followed the overthrow of Colonel Gaddafi has seen the rise of numerous militia groups, all competing for a piece of the lucrative migrant trade.<\/p>\n<p>A large part of that trade is the operation of detention centres, officially run by the government but effectively controlled by militia groups. Asylum seekers detained in Libya are held at the centres, where they are often subject to abuse and violence.<\/p>\n<p>The conditions at detention centres has got so bad that the UNHCR prioritise the processing of refugees and migrants that are held in them - as they are considered among the most vulnerable. This has led to asylum seekers actually bribing their way into centres, sources say.<\/p>\n<p>In December, migrants and refugees detained in Khoms Suq al-Khamis started a hunger strike to persuade UNHCR to visit the centre and register them in the hope that this might stop them from being sold and disappeared.<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-image widget--size-fullwidth widget--animation-fade-in widget--align-center\" data-ratio=\"0.6666666666666666\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio--auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <figure class=\"widget__figure\">\n <img class=\"widgetImage__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////static.euronews.com//articles//stories//04//14//26//26//808x539_cmsv2_d82451d9-0d9e-55ac-8342-0a642d2bcb77-4142626.jpg/" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/26\/384x256_cmsv2_d82451d9-0d9e-55ac-8342-0a642d2bcb77-4142626.jpg 384w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/26\/640x427_cmsv2_d82451d9-0d9e-55ac-8342-0a642d2bcb77-4142626.jpg 640w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/26\/750x500_cmsv2_d82451d9-0d9e-55ac-8342-0a642d2bcb77-4142626.jpg 750w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/26\/828x552_cmsv2_d82451d9-0d9e-55ac-8342-0a642d2bcb77-4142626.jpg 828w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/26\/1080x720_cmsv2_d82451d9-0d9e-55ac-8342-0a642d2bcb77-4142626.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/26\/1200x800_cmsv2_d82451d9-0d9e-55ac-8342-0a642d2bcb77-4142626.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/26\/1920x1280_cmsv2_d82451d9-0d9e-55ac-8342-0a642d2bcb77-4142626.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 95vw, (max-width: 1024px) 80vw, (max-width: 1280px) 55vw, 728px\"\/>\n <figcaption class=\"widget__caption\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionWrap\">\n \n <span class=\"widget__captionCredit\">Muona, quickly dismissed from the hospital with her newborn baby: "I don\u2019t have any support for my baby. Nothing at all from UNHCR"<\/span>\n <\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<p>Amina, a Somali refugee now in Triq al-Sikka facility in Tripoli confirmed to Euronews that she paid money to be \u201caccepted into detention and have a better chance to be registered and evacuated\".<\/p>\n<p>The former UN staff member detailed one case where he claims a pregnant rape victim had opted to return to a detention centre in order to be considered for evacuation.<\/p>\n<p>At the Abu Salim detention centre, Eritrean refugees have been begging the detention centre manager to admit them, with the sole hope of being evacuated.<\/p>\n<p>Others are paying to get themselves in to the UNHCR's Gathering and Departure Facility (GDF) - managed by the Libyan Ministry of Interior, UNHCR and UNHCR\u2019s partner LibAid - in Tripoli, where refugees are normally hosted until their transfer to another state is confirmed.<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-image widget--size-fullwidth widget--animation-fade-in widget--align-center\" data-ratio=\"0.6146666666666667\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio--auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <figure class=\"widget__figure\">\n <img class=\"widgetImage__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////static.euronews.com//articles//stories//04//14//26//26//808x496_cmsv2_c13e1285-8f56-558a-a7cc-7f12b0e85572-4142626.jpg/" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/26\/384x236_cmsv2_c13e1285-8f56-558a-a7cc-7f12b0e85572-4142626.jpg 384w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/26\/640x393_cmsv2_c13e1285-8f56-558a-a7cc-7f12b0e85572-4142626.jpg 640w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/26\/750x461_cmsv2_c13e1285-8f56-558a-a7cc-7f12b0e85572-4142626.jpg 750w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/26\/828x509_cmsv2_c13e1285-8f56-558a-a7cc-7f12b0e85572-4142626.jpg 828w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/26\/1080x664_cmsv2_c13e1285-8f56-558a-a7cc-7f12b0e85572-4142626.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/26\/1200x738_cmsv2_c13e1285-8f56-558a-a7cc-7f12b0e85572-4142626.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/26\/1920x1180_cmsv2_c13e1285-8f56-558a-a7cc-7f12b0e85572-4142626.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 95vw, (max-width: 1024px) 80vw, (max-width: 1280px) 55vw, 728px\"\/>\n <figcaption class=\"widget__caption\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionWrap\">\n \n <span class=\"widget__captionCredit\">UNHCR's Gathering and Departure Facility (GDF) in Tripoli, in front of the Triq al Sika detention centre - Photo: Sara Creta<\/span>\n <\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<p>There, one refugee awaiting evacuation told Euronews: \u201cThe guards who are working at the gate, brought inside Somalian and Eritrean women; they paid 2000 dinars (around 430\u20ac) each. We told this to UNHCR, and they asked us not to tell anyone\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Commenting on the allegations, Yaxley said: \u201cUNHCR takes any claims of misconduct very seriously. Any claim that is found to be valid following an investigation is followed by a zero tolerance approach. We strongly encourage any victims to directly contact our Inspector General\u2019s Office.\u201d.<\/p>\n<h2>Lack of information<\/h2>\n<p>Aside from bribery, the former employee said that the fate of individual asylum seekers and their families in Libya largely relies on luck.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s up to the office,\u201d the source said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt the beginning of 2019, the UNHCR registered a woman from Ivory Coast (<a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.euronews.com//2019//10//02//unhcr-in-libya-part-1-from-standing-withrefugees-to-standing-withstates/">which is not among the 9 nationalities that are prioritised according to Cochetel<\/a>), only because there was a recommendation letter from a higher rank.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSometimes you may wait months to register a case because no one will give you approval; there are cases of favouritism and a lazy attitude. All registration processes are unclear.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Many refugees and asylum seekers in Tripoli complained to Euronews about the lack of information available to them about their personal case. The former employee said that this is part of a strategy at the agency in order to avoid having to deal with the huge amount of admin involved.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a general attitude not to answer refugees and keep them blind to avoid more requests. In Tripoli, refugees or asylum seekers are left without a clue. They don\u2019t know if they are accepted or rejected.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey receive very little information about their file and most of the time, no proper update about the process, or in case they have to appeal if their request has been rejected.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The source said that since September 2017 there is no system in place to appeal against rejection on their refugee status, and asylum seekers don\u2019t know they have the right to appeal the decision within 30 days.<\/p>\n<p>One family from Nigeria, now detained in Az-Z\u0101wiyah detention centre, described their experience.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe first time we managed to meet UNHCR was secretly in Tarik Al Matar centre in July 2018. Since that time UNHCR is refusing to register us. When we try to ask about our cases they kept telling us later, next time, next time,\u201d the father said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSometimes they avoid us totally. Once, UNHCR has even advised us to return home. My youngest girl has been born in detention and the eldest have some traumatic effects due to a whole lot of horrible stuff they've experienced.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile the situation in Libya is only likely to get worse, with a bottleneck in some states like Niger slowing down the evacuation plan from Libya.<\/p>\n<p>There are currently 1,174 evacuees from Libya staying in Niger, including 192 evacuated unaccompanied children, according to UNHCR. With the Emergency Transit Mechanism (ETM) at full capacity, many cases are still pending a decision.<\/p>\n<p>\"The Government of Niger has generously offered additional space for up to 1,500 refugees in the Emergency Transit Mechanism run by UNHCR in Niamey with financial support from the European Union,\" <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.unhcr.org//news//press//2018//5//5af413d04//unhcr-resumes-life-saving-refugee-evacuations-libya.html/" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\">writes Cochetel in May 2018<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-image widget--size-fullwidth widget--animation-fade-in widget--align-center\" data-ratio=\"1.33375\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio--auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <figure class=\"widget__figure\">\n <img class=\"widgetImage__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////static.euronews.com//articles//stories//04//14//26//26//808x1077_cmsv2_2beee997-0854-54c2-8d2a-6806f0a7ed22-4142626.jpg/" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/26\/384x512_cmsv2_2beee997-0854-54c2-8d2a-6806f0a7ed22-4142626.jpg 384w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/26\/640x854_cmsv2_2beee997-0854-54c2-8d2a-6806f0a7ed22-4142626.jpg 640w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/26\/750x1000_cmsv2_2beee997-0854-54c2-8d2a-6806f0a7ed22-4142626.jpg 750w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/26\/828x1104_cmsv2_2beee997-0854-54c2-8d2a-6806f0a7ed22-4142626.jpg 828w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/26\/1080x1440_cmsv2_2beee997-0854-54c2-8d2a-6806f0a7ed22-4142626.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/26\/1200x1601_cmsv2_2beee997-0854-54c2-8d2a-6806f0a7ed22-4142626.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/26\/1920x2561_cmsv2_2beee997-0854-54c2-8d2a-6806f0a7ed22-4142626.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 95vw, (max-width: 1024px) 80vw, (max-width: 1280px) 55vw, 728px\"\/>\n <figcaption class=\"widget__caption\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionWrap\">\n \n <span class=\"widget__captionCredit\">Khoms - Photo: Sara Creta<\/span>\n <\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<h2>Mistakes<\/h2>\n<p>To make the situation worse, according to the former employee, many mistakes have been made including nationalities wrongly assigned to individuals.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUNHCR was registering Chadians as Sudanese, or Ethiopians as Eritreans. The UNHCR staff in Libya was not qualified to properly understand the situation,\u201d the source said.<\/p>\n<p>Commenting on that claim, Yaxley said: \u201cUNHCR staff are selected through the same processes as in all other operations worldwide, following human resources rules. There are over 100 national staff working in Libya. UNHCR does not work with external contractors.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The aforementioned concentration on nine specified nationalities was put in place in order to keep numbers down, the former staff member said.<\/p>\n<p>Libya\u2019s Undersecretary of the Ministry of Interior for Migration, Mohammed Al-Shibani, said that on the contrary the Libyan government is not refusing to register other nationalities. \u201cThe nationalities are determined by the UN not by us,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-image widget--size-fullwidth widget--animation-fade-in widget--align-center\" data-ratio=\"0.6666666666666666\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio--auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <figure class=\"widget__figure\">\n <img class=\"widgetImage__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////static.euronews.com//articles//stories//04//14//26//32//808x539_cmsv2_c7afc9a8-dcc0-5209-a44d-2c86c01d8fe4-4142632.jpg/" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/32\/384x256_cmsv2_c7afc9a8-dcc0-5209-a44d-2c86c01d8fe4-4142632.jpg 384w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/32\/640x427_cmsv2_c7afc9a8-dcc0-5209-a44d-2c86c01d8fe4-4142632.jpg 640w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/32\/750x500_cmsv2_c7afc9a8-dcc0-5209-a44d-2c86c01d8fe4-4142632.jpg 750w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/32\/828x552_cmsv2_c7afc9a8-dcc0-5209-a44d-2c86c01d8fe4-4142632.jpg 828w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/32\/1080x720_cmsv2_c7afc9a8-dcc0-5209-a44d-2c86c01d8fe4-4142632.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/32\/1200x800_cmsv2_c7afc9a8-dcc0-5209-a44d-2c86c01d8fe4-4142632.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/32\/1920x1280_cmsv2_c7afc9a8-dcc0-5209-a44d-2c86c01d8fe4-4142632.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 95vw, (max-width: 1024px) 80vw, (max-width: 1280px) 55vw, 728px\"\/>\n <figcaption class=\"widget__caption\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionWrap\">\n \n <span class=\"widget__captionCredit\">Mohammed Al-Shibani. Photo: Sara Creta<\/span>\n <\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<h2>Procurement<\/h2>\n<p>On issues with procurement, the former staff member points Euronews at the internal UN audit of the operations in Libya, which found that UNHCR designated procurements to 12 partners worth $4.7 million and $4.0 million in 2017 and 2018 respectively.<\/p>\n<p>But the mission \u201cdid not conduct any cost-benefit analysis\u201d, opting instead for direct procurement \u201cdespite the significant differences between official and market exchange rates.<\/p>\n<p>In 2017 and 2018, \u201cthe mission designated procurement exceeding $100,000 to three partners without them being pre-qualified by the Procurement Service at headquarters\u201d. A lack of procurement plans resulted in ''unnecessary and higher\u201d costs.<\/p>\n<p>For example, the audit found a transaction for eight laptops with total expenditure of $47,067 (equivalent to a unit cost per laptop of $5,883). Moreover, flight tickets amounting to $128,000 and $66,000 during 2017 and 2018 were bought from two different travel agencies without any clear process for selection, as mentioned in the audit and confirmed by a former UN source.<\/p>\n<p>\"The mission was unable to demonstrate it used its resources effectively and efficiently in providing for the essential needs of persons of concern. The lack of reporting also increased UNHCR's reputational risk\", reads the audit.<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-freeform\nwidget--size-fullwidth\nwidget--align-center\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio--auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <div style=\"background-color:#DBF3FA; font-size:1em; padding:8px;margin: 0.2em 0.5em;border-radius:8px;width:95%;\"> <h4>UNHCR in Libya, the investigation<\/h4> <p> <li><a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.euronews.com//2019//10//02//unhcr-in-libya-part-1-from-standing-withrefugees-to-standing-withstates/">UNHCR in Libya Part 1: From standing #WithRefugees to standing #WithStates? <\/a><\/li> <li><a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.euronews.com//2019//10//02//unhcr-in-libya-part-2-migrants-in-detention-centres-why-does-unhcr-want-to-keep-us-in-pris/">UNHCR in Libya Part 2: Migrants in detention centres: 'Why does UNHCR want to keep us in prison?'<\/a><\/li> <li><a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.euronews.com//2019//10//03//unhcr-in-libya-part-3-former-staffer-blows-whistle-on-favouritism-and-culture-of-impunity/">UNHCR in Libya Part 3: Former staffer blows whistle on favouritism and 'culture of impunity' <\/a><\/li> <li><a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.euronews.com//2019//10//03//unhcr-in-libya-part-4-the-detention-centres-the-map-and-the-stories/">UNHCR in Libya Part 4: The detention centres - the map and the stories<\/a><\/li> <\/p> <\/div> \n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n","hashtag":null,"createdAt":1568026958,"updatedAt":1723539856,"publishedAt":1570114411,"firstPublishedAt":1570114433,"lastPublishedAt":1570459424,"expiresAt":0,"images":[{"url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/26\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_594a03d4-47a1-5b38-a561-72ea8b82dc26-4142626.jpg","altText":null,"caption":null,"captionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"Migrants in Khoms center - Photo: Sara Creta","sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"callToActionText":null,"width":1600,"height":840},{"url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/26\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_c13e1285-8f56-558a-a7cc-7f12b0e85572-4142626.jpg","altText":null,"caption":null,"captionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"The GDF ","sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"callToActionText":null,"width":1500,"height":922},{"url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/26\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_d82451d9-0d9e-55ac-8342-0a642d2bcb77-4142626.jpg","altText":null,"caption":null,"captionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"Muona with her newborn baby: \"I don\u2019t have any support for my baby. Nothing at all from UNHCR\"","sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"callToActionText":null,"width":1500,"height":1000},{"url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/26\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_c6b9afba-0cfc-5496-a9a0-bfd7073130ed-4142626.jpg","altText":null,"caption":null,"captionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"Two months ago, a displaced refugee family in the Libyan capital found shelter in an abandoned warehouse in the area of Al Riad, 400 meters from the UNHCR Community Day Center in Gurji, Tripoli. They feel unsafe, especially at night. Photo: Sara Creta","sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"callToActionText":null,"width":2000,"height":1333},{"url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/26\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_8f95bb63-c42a-5f8f-8145-e1ebd1b23518-4142626.jpg","altText":null,"caption":null,"captionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"Khoms - Photo: Sara Creta","sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"callToActionText":null,"width":2316,"height":3376},{"url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/26\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_ff9b44d2-7221-531c-b5fe-d7c24453e377-4142626.jpg","altText":null,"caption":null,"captionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"Refugees living in Ghargaresh. Foto: Sara Creta","sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"callToActionText":null,"width":2000,"height":1125},{"url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/26\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_4a121127-7671-5bbe-8193-1dda50b36b9c-4142626.jpg","altText":null,"caption":null,"captionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"AFP or licensors","sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"callToActionText":null,"width":2000,"height":1125},{"url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/26\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_5fa75dd2-e322-52b3-b35f-b9a4b9211865-4142626.jpg","altText":null,"caption":null,"captionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"Migrants in Khoms center - Photo: Sara Creta","sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"callToActionText":null,"width":2000,"height":1125},{"url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/26\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_2beee997-0854-54c2-8d2a-6806f0a7ed22-4142626.jpg","altText":null,"caption":null,"captionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"Khoms - Photo: Sara Creta","sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"callToActionText":null,"width":800,"height":1067},{"url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/26\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_8d683ee7-22af-5257-8d9a-597cd903e061-4142626.jpg","altText":null,"caption":null,"captionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"Migrants in Khoms center - Photo: Sara Creta","sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"callToActionText":null,"width":1600,"height":1200},{"url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/26\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_2963b54e-fc49-5fc2-8cac-ab418d23067f-4142626.jpg","altText":null,"caption":null,"captionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"Migrants in the Tarik Sika center - Photo: Sara Creta","sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"callToActionText":null,"width":1500,"height":1000},{"url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/26\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_10f9bb22-01c9-5db6-935e-c55636d552e6-4142626.jpg","altText":null,"caption":null,"captionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"Refugees living in Ghargaresh. Foto: Sara Creta","sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"callToActionText":null,"width":5760,"height":3840},{"url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/32\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_8580369c-fbdd-58b6-ad0f-3e489fbcfb3f-4142632.jpg","altText":null,"caption":null,"captionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"Migrants in the Tarik Sika center - Photo: Sara Creta","sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"callToActionText":null,"width":4032,"height":3024}],"authors":{"journalists":[],"producers":[],"videoEditor":[]},"keywords":[{"id":10833,"slug":"unhcr","urlSafeValue":"unhcr","title":"UNHCR","titleRaw":"UNHCR"},{"id":172,"slug":"libya","urlSafeValue":"libya","title":"Libya","titleRaw":"Libya"},{"id":13190,"slug":"migrants","urlSafeValue":"migrants","title":"Migrants","titleRaw":"Migrants"},{"id":12102,"slug":"migrant-crisis","urlSafeValue":"migrant-crisis","title":"Migrant Crisis","titleRaw":"Migrant Crisis"},{"id":21468,"slug":"unhcr-in-libya","urlSafeValue":"unhcr-in-libya","title":"UNHCR in Libya","titleRaw":"UNHCR in Libya"}],"widgets":[{"slug":"image","count":6},{"slug":"html","count":1}],"related":[{"id":860012},{"id":944246},{"id":1112396}],"technicalTags":[],"externalPartners":[],"hasExternalVideo":0,"hasInternalOrExternalVideo":0,"video":0,"videos":[],"liveStream":[{"startDate":0,"endDate":0}],"scribbleLiveId":0,"scribbleLiveRibbon":0,"isLiveCoverage":0,"sourceId":1,"sources":[],"externalSource":null,"additionalSources":"Video: Sara Creta","additionalReporting":"Sara Creta","freeField1":null,"freeField2":"","type":"normal","displayType":"default","program":{"id":"world","urlSafeValue":"world","title":"World News","online":1,"url":"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/programs\/world"},"season":"","episode":"","episodeId":"","vertical":"news","verticals":[{"id":1,"slug":"news","urlSafeValue":"news","title":"News"}],"primaryVertical":{"id":1,"slug":"news","urlSafeValue":"news","title":"News"},"themes":[{"id":"news","urlSafeValue":"news","title":"World","url":"\/news\/international"}],"primaryTheme":{"id":1,"urlSafeValue":"news","title":"World"},"advertising":0,"advertisingData":{"startDate":0,"endDate":0,"type":null,"slug":null,"title":null,"disclaimerLabelKey":null,"sponsor":null,"sponsorName":null,"sponsorUrl":null,"sponsorLogo":"","sponsorLogoReverse":"","isDfp":0},"geoLocation":{"lat":0,"lon":0},"location":1,"continent":{"id":3,"urlSafeValue":"africa","title":"Africa"},"country":{"id":172,"urlSafeValue":"libya","title":"Libya","url":"\/news\/africa\/libya"},"town":[],"contextualSignals":{"doubleVerify":{"ids":[],"slugs":[]}},"grapeshot":"'neg_facebook_2021','castrol_negative_uk','gs_society','pos_equinor','pos_facebook','neg_mobkoi_castrol','gs_society_misc','gt_negative','neg_facebook','neg_facebook_q4','neg_pmi','shadow9hu7_pos_pmi','neg_bucherer','gv_crime','gs_health','gs_politics','gs_politics_misc','gs_law_misc','gs_health_misc'","versions":[],"programDeliverable":{"slug":"sujet","format":"default"},"showOpinionDisclaimer":0,"allViews":0,"allViewsMeta":{"pointOfView":[],"survey":[],"tweetId":0,"tweet2NdId":0,"displayOverlay":0},"storyTranslationMethod":[],"localisation":[],"autoPublished":0,"autoLocalised":0,"isReviewed":0,"path":"\/2019\/10\/03\/unhcr-in-libya-part-3-former-staffer-blows-whistle-on-favouritism-and-culture-of-impunity","lastModified":1570459424},{"id":860016,"cid":4142622,"versionId":9,"archive":0,"housenumber":"190909_WBSU_9083219","owner":"euronews","isMagazine":0,"isBreakingNews":0,"daletEventName":"WEB UNHCR IN LIBYA: MIGRANTS VOICES","daletPyramidId":null,"channels":[{"id":1},{"id":2},{"id":4},{"id":5},{"id":12}],"status":2,"title":"UNHCR in Libya Part 2: Migrants in detention centres: 'Why does UNHCR want to keep us in prison?'","titleSeo":null,"titleListing1":"Migrants in detention centres ask: 'Why does UNHCR keep us in prison?'","titleListing2":"UNHCR in Libya Part 2: Migrants in detention centres: 'Why does UNHCR want to keep us in prison?'","leadin":"The UN agency has been accused of being a \u201cfig leaf\u201d for the policy of externalisation of EU borders; critics argue that UNHCR action is Libya is uneffective. We asked migrants held in detention centres their opinion.","summary":"The UN agency has been accused of being a \u201cfig leaf\u201d for the policy of externalisation of EU borders; critics argue that UNHCR action is Libya is uneffective. We asked migrants held in detention centres their opinion.","keySentence":"","url":"unhcr-in-libya-part-2-migrants-in-detention-centres-why-does-unhcr-want-to-keep-us-in-pris","canonical":"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/2019\/10\/02\/unhcr-in-libya-part-2-migrants-in-detention-centres-why-does-unhcr-want-to-keep-us-in-pris","masterCms":"v2","plainText":"In this, the second part of our four-part investigation into the UNHCR's operation in Libya, we talk to those migrants actually involved in the registration and detainment process. They tell Euronews their stories. \n\nDespite increased EU funding to the Libyan coastguard, and an Italian memorandum of understanding with the DCIM (the body responsible for running migrant detention centres) no effective provision has been made by the EU to implement migrants' human rights and living conditions in Libya. \n\nThe migrant experience in the embattled North African nation is deteriorating. Many people in that position who spoke to Euronews have reported abuses after being thrown into detention centres with the hope of being registered by UNHCR. Testimonies include instances of torture, rape and extortion at the hands of local militias and when this leads to an attempt to cross the Mediterranean sea, reports also detail how they have been intercepted by the Libyan coastguards and automatically re-incarcerated into the detention centres. \n\n\u201cIt has become an infinite, terrible circle from which there is no way out\u201d, Julien Raickman, head of the MSF-France\u2019s Libyan operation, told The Times. \n\nUNHCR's main mission in Libya is to register migrants and find a solution to get them out of the country. However, as Raickman adds, \u201cthe resettlement procedure is totally blocked\u201d. \n\nAs seen in part 1 of this investigation \u27a1\ufe0f SEE PART 1 the UN agency has been accused of being a \u201cfig leaf\u201d for the policy of externalisation of EU borders; more succinctly, the assertion is that UNHCR action is Libya is ineffective. \n\nThe body, headed by Filippo Grandi, repeatedly and urgently appealed to Europe to evacuate all refugees and dismantle the centres but blames its inefficiency on the difficulty of getting access to the facilities - an assertion that is challenged by the militias running the detention centres. At this stage, it is not clear what level of access UNHCR really has on each, individual centre. \n\nAs an unspecific response, UNHCR's Charlie Yaxley told Euronews: \"The work we are able to carry out in detention centres is limited, as these are run by the Libyan authorities. Our access is restricted and we are limited to carrying out registration, protection assessments, medical referrals\/treatment and providing basic relief items.\" \n\nFrom the other side, Libyan authorities complain about the efficiency of UNHCR work in a country where they have to operate without a legal status or MOU. \n\n\u201cSome Ethiopian and Somali people in this centre [Tarik Sika, controlled by a pro-government militia] remained for two years here. After a period of 1-2 years, UNHCR informs that you are refused and not allowed to be resettled\u201d, Captain Abdelnaser Ezam, vice president of Tripoli\u2019s branch of the Ministry of the Interior, Government of National Accord (GNA) tells Euronews. \n\n\u201cDuring the last period, we had a Somali person waiting for two years here. Then, the employers of UNHCR came and informed him that he refused to be resettled. The result: he suicided by burning himself and died after 2 days in the intensive care in the hospital. This is the result of depression hit the immigrants because the immigrants believe that when they register for UNHCR and make interview, directly he will be accepted and have the resettlement\u201d. The Somali migrant was called Abdulaziz, he was 28 when he died , in October 2018. He entered the centre nine months earlier. \n\nEuronews followed testimonies across four detention centres: \n\nQasr Bin Gashir \nZintan \nAz-Z\u0101wiyah \nAbu Salim \n\nWe wanted to discover and detail how a combination of inefficiency and bad management by UNHCR appears to perpetuate the very system that is under scrutiny in this series. \n\nBack in April, a shooting at Qasr bin Ghashir centre, on the outskirts of Tripoli, caused several deaths and injured at least 12 people, according to MSF . It was the same episode for which UNHCR sent out a press release arguing that \u201cgunshots were reported to have been fired in the air\u201d and \u201cthere were no bullet wounds\u201d \u27a1\ufe0f SEE PART 1 ; a version overturned by evidence found by MSF and Amnesty International. Prior to that episode, a source tells Euronews, migrants were left starving for two weeks and UNHCR offered them resettlement in Zintan, known to refugees as one of the worst facilities in Libya. \n\nIn Zintan, conditions are desperate: At one point during the Summer of 2019, 700 human beings were crammed on top of each other, starving. Twenty-two have died of TB and hunger since September 2018. 120 minors are reportedly at this facility. \n\nUNHCR\u2019s mandate does not include providing food and water for asylum-seekers and refugees, but their doctors had access to the centre as confirmed to Euronews by local authorities. Food supply is under the control of the Libyan Directorate for Combatting Illegal Migration (DCIM) but severe delays are reported in their payment to catering companies, thus resulting in service disruption. \n\nThe UN High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed concern for the \u201cinhuman and degrading\u201d conditions in which these refugees are held, \u201cas well as ongoing reports of disappearances and human trafficking\u201d. \n\nDuring one of the many protests in the Zintan hangar, migrants held banners reading: \u201cWe are victims by UNHCR in Libya\u201d and \u201cWe are abused by human rights organisation\u201d. Their struggle is visible in social media images leaked by journalists such as Sally Hayden and reported by media including AP and NGOs such as MSF. \n\nOne migrant detained in Zintan told Euronews: \n\nThe UN agency for refugees \u201cinterviewed only 39 of these starving 650... in Zintan in June. Two days ago, only 27 of them were fingerprinted for evacuation\u201d` tweeted human right lawyer Giulia Tranchina. \n\nHaving rejected the Zintan option after the shooting in Qasr bin Ghashir, migrants were finally resettled in the Az-Z\u0101wiyah centre. Some others fled: among them a migrant with his pregnant wife. We will talk about their fate shortly. \n\nBack to the Az-Z\u0101wiyah centre. This specific facility is run by a militia sanctioned by the UN for human trafficking. One migrant told Euronews that UNHCR staff member called Waleed supports the resident militia: \n\nThis claim pertaining to a proximal relationship between the UNHCR representative and a senior militia member involved in the running of the centre is also referenced in an article by the Israeli news outlet, Haaretz . Here, Waleed is quoted referring to the camp manager as a 'cousin'. According to a migrant Euronews interviewed, this kind of scenario also played out at Abu Salim detention centre, near the front line: \u201cThe UNHCR guy never speaks with refugees and is friends with local police\u201d. He also said the last time the UN agency came to register someone \u201cwas 6 months ago\u201d. \n\nWe asked UNHCR spokespersons about the allegations pertaining to Osama and Waleed, but this specific point was not addressed by their response to us. \n\nA source inside the Az-Z\u0101wiyah centre tells us Osama and his men shot at migrants who refused to follow traffickers to whom they had been sold. \u201cSeveral times there have been gunshots since we got here. Twice when the prisoners made attempts to escape, and about four were shot in their legs and two were shot dead\u201d. \n\nThus, in both centres where the UNHCR operated, Qasr bin Ghashir and Az-Z\u0101wiyah, migrants were fired at. \n\nOne migrant from Guinea, Moussa (not his real name), says he was shot twice in the ankles at Az-Z\u0101wiyah. He says he ended up there after three different attempts to cross the Mediterranean, and four subsequent extortion attempts to be freed. In the prisons he visited, he claims to have been repeatedly tortured. Once intercepted by the Az-Z\u0101wiyah coast guard unit, connected to the Osama gang , Moussa was brought to the centre \u201cand we stayed two days without food\u201d, he tells Euronews . A revolt broke out among refugees and was sedated with gunshots: \u201cA Sudanese next to me was hit in the guts and died on the spot. His body was thrown in the desert\u201d. \n\nLater on, Osama reportedly told a seriously wounded Moussa to contact a guy called \u201cMohamed\u201d, who set the price for his fourth attempt to cross the Mediterranean: 3,000 dinars (around 2,000 euros). Moussa was finally saved at sea by the Open Arms vessel and is now safe in Italy. \n\nMoussa was luckier than the migrant who managed to run away from the shooting at Qasr bin Ghashir with his pregnant wife. We will call them Mohamad and Aya. \n\nImmediately after 325 refugees were transferred from there to Az-Z\u0101wiyah detention centre, UNHCR evacuated more than 140 migrants out of Libya. When the names of Mohamad and Aya were called, they were not there and missed their chance to leave the country for a safer one. Ever since then, they are stranded in the streets of Tripoli with their new-born baby like the majority of asylum-seekers in Libya. \u201cWe fear going out\u201d, they say to Euronews referring to the dangers of having no protection in the Libyan capital. \u201cWe escaped from the detention centre because the military came to attack us\u201d. \n\nNow Mohamad cannot enter the UNHCR's Gathering and Departure Facility (GDF) in Tripoli as his case is not among those entitled to evacuation. By running away from the bullets, they lost their right to get out of Libya. They had repeatedly tried to contact UNHCR offices both in Tripoli and Geneva, both had received no answers. \u201cI am going to the office to ask about my case and some assistance like food and shelter, still nobody helping me\u201d. \n\nA UNHCR officer explained to Euronews that resettlement is prioritised according to vulnerability because of the lack of available places, and - crucially - one key element of this is physically being in a detention centre as this is where conditions are at their worst. People who escape from the centre don\u2019t realise that this affects their prioritisation for resettlement. \n\nIt can be read this way: if refugees want to have any chance of being resettled, they need to stay in detention centres and wait. No matter what. This is discussed further in \u27a1\ufe0f SEE PART 3 . \n\n","htmlText":"<p><strong>In this, the second part of our four-part investigation into the UNHCR's operation in Libya, we talk to those migrants actually involved in the registration and detainment process. They tell Euronews their stories.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Despite increased EU funding to the Libyan coastguard, and an Italian memorandum of understanding with the DCIM (the body responsible for running migrant detention centres) no effective provision has been made by the EU to implement migrants' human rights and living conditions in Libya.<\/p>\n<p>The migrant experience in the embattled North African nation is deteriorating. Many people in that position who spoke to Euronews have reported abuses after being thrown into detention centres with the hope of being registered by UNHCR. Testimonies include instances of torture, rape and extortion at the hands of local militias and when this leads to an attempt to cross the Mediterranean sea, reports also detail how they have been intercepted by the Libyan coastguards and automatically re-incarcerated into the detention centres.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt has become an infinite, terrible circle from which there is no way out\u201d, Julien Raickman, head of the MSF-France\u2019s Libyan operation, told <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.thetimes.co.uk//article//migrants-endure-inhuman-conditions-at-libyan-un-camp-hzkrbgg6b/" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\">The Times.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>UNHCR's main mission in Libya is to register migrants and find a solution to get them out of the country. However, as Raickman adds, \u201cthe resettlement procedure is totally blocked\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>As seen in part 1 of this investigation \u27a1\ufe0f <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.euronews.com//2019//10//02//unhcr-in-libya-part-1-from-standing-withrefugees-to-standing-withstates/">SEE PART 1<\/a> the UN agency has been accused of being a \u201cfig leaf\u201d for the policy of externalisation of EU borders; more succinctly, the assertion is that UNHCR action is Libya is ineffective.<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-image widget--size-fullscreen widget--animation-fade-in widget--align-center\" data-ratio=\"0.6666666666666666\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio--auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <figure class=\"widget__figure\">\n <img class=\"widgetImage__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////static.euronews.com//articles//stories//04//14//26//26//1052x701_cmsv2_10f9bb22-01c9-5db6-935e-c55636d552e6-4142626.jpg/" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/26\/384x256_cmsv2_10f9bb22-01c9-5db6-935e-c55636d552e6-4142626.jpg 384w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/26\/640x427_cmsv2_10f9bb22-01c9-5db6-935e-c55636d552e6-4142626.jpg 640w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/26\/750x500_cmsv2_10f9bb22-01c9-5db6-935e-c55636d552e6-4142626.jpg 750w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/26\/828x552_cmsv2_10f9bb22-01c9-5db6-935e-c55636d552e6-4142626.jpg 828w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/26\/1080x720_cmsv2_10f9bb22-01c9-5db6-935e-c55636d552e6-4142626.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/26\/1200x800_cmsv2_10f9bb22-01c9-5db6-935e-c55636d552e6-4142626.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/26\/1920x1280_cmsv2_10f9bb22-01c9-5db6-935e-c55636d552e6-4142626.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"100vw\"\/>\n <figcaption class=\"widget__caption\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionWrap\">\n \n <span class=\"widget__captionCredit\">Refugees living in Ghargaresh. Photo: Sara Creta<\/span>\n <\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<p>The body, headed by Filippo Grandi, repeatedly and urgently appealed to Europe to evacuate all refugees and dismantle the centres but blames its inefficiency on the difficulty of getting access to the facilities - an assertion that is challenged by the militias running the detention centres. At this stage, it is not clear what level of access UNHCR really has on each, individual centre.<\/p>\n<p>As an unspecific response, UNHCR's Charlie Yaxley told Euronews: \"The work we are able to carry out in detention centres is limited, as these are run by the Libyan authorities. Our access is restricted and we are limited to carrying out registration, protection assessments, medical referrals\/treatment and providing basic relief items.\"<\/p>\n<p>From the other side, Libyan authorities complain about the efficiency of UNHCR work in a country where they have to operate without a legal status or MOU.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSome Ethiopian and Somali people in this centre [Tarik Sika, controlled by a pro-government militia] remained for two years here. After a period of 1-2 years, UNHCR informs that you are refused and not allowed to be resettled\u201d, Captain Abdelnaser Ezam, vice president of Tripoli\u2019s branch of the Ministry of the Interior, Government of National Accord (GNA) tells Euronews.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDuring the last period, we had a Somali person waiting for two years here. Then, the employers of UNHCR came and informed him that he refused to be resettled. The result: he suicided by burning himself and died after 2 days in the intensive care in the hospital. This is the result of depression hit the immigrants because the immigrants believe that when they register for UNHCR and make interview, directly he will be accepted and have the resettlement\u201d. The Somali migrant was called Abdulaziz, he was <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.bbc.com//news//world-africa-49154959/" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\">28 when he died<\/a>, in October 2018. He entered the centre nine months earlier.<\/p>\n<p>Euronews followed testimonies across four detention centres:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Qasr Bin Gashir<\/li>\n<li>Zintan<\/li>\n<li>Az-Z\u0101wiyah<\/li>\n<li>Abu Salim<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>We wanted to discover and detail how a combination of inefficiency and bad management by UNHCR appears to perpetuate the very system that is under scrutiny in this series.<\/p>\n<p>Back in April, a shooting at Qasr bin Ghashir centre, on the outskirts of Tripoli, caused several deaths and injured at least 12 people, <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.msf.org//time-running-out-evacuations-refugees-tripoli-amid-shooting-libya?component=video-262778\%22 target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\">according to MSF<\/a>. It was the same episode for which UNHCR sent out a press release arguing that \u201cgunshots were reported to have been fired in the air\u201d and \u201cthere were no bullet wounds\u201d <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.euronews.com//2019//10//02//unhcr-in-libya-part-1-from-standing-withrefugees-to-standing-withstates/">/u27a1/ufe0f SEE PART 1<\/a>; a version overturned by evidence found by MSF and Amnesty International. Prior to that episode, a source tells Euronews, migrants were left starving for two weeks and UNHCR offered them resettlement in Zintan, known to refugees as one of the worst facilities in Libya.<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-image widget--size-fullwidth widget--animation-fade-in widget--align-center\" data-ratio=\"0.48643410852713176\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio--auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <figure class=\"widget__figure\">\n <img class=\"widgetImage__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////static.euronews.com//articles//stories//04//14//26//22//808x392_cmsv2_4ee59aed-455c-5010-ac4e-24451f2bdec8-4142622.jpg/" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/22\/384x187_cmsv2_4ee59aed-455c-5010-ac4e-24451f2bdec8-4142622.jpg 384w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/22\/640x311_cmsv2_4ee59aed-455c-5010-ac4e-24451f2bdec8-4142622.jpg 640w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/22\/750x365_cmsv2_4ee59aed-455c-5010-ac4e-24451f2bdec8-4142622.jpg 750w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/22\/828x403_cmsv2_4ee59aed-455c-5010-ac4e-24451f2bdec8-4142622.jpg 828w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/22\/1080x525_cmsv2_4ee59aed-455c-5010-ac4e-24451f2bdec8-4142622.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/22\/1200x584_cmsv2_4ee59aed-455c-5010-ac4e-24451f2bdec8-4142622.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/22\/1920x934_cmsv2_4ee59aed-455c-5010-ac4e-24451f2bdec8-4142622.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 95vw, (max-width: 1330px) 70vw, 900px\"\/>\n <figcaption class=\"widget__caption\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionWrap\">\n \n <span class=\"widget__captionCredit\">Image sent to media organizations including Euronews by unnamed refugee<\/span>\n <\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<p>In Zintan, conditions are desperate: At one point during the Summer of 2019, 700 human beings were crammed on top of each other, starving. Twenty-two have died of TB and hunger since September 2018. 120 minors are reportedly at this facility.<\/p>\n<p>UNHCR\u2019s mandate does not include providing food and water for asylum-seekers and refugees, but their doctors had access to the centre as confirmed to Euronews by local authorities. Food supply is under the control of the Libyan Directorate for Combatting Illegal Migration (DCIM) but severe delays are reported in their payment to catering companies, thus resulting in service disruption.<\/p>\n<p>The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.ohchr.org//EN//NewsEvents//Pages//DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=24681&LangID=E\%22 target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\">expressed<\/a> concern for the \u201cinhuman and degrading\u201d conditions in which these refugees are held, \u201cas well as ongoing reports of disappearances and human trafficking\u201d.<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-image widget--size-fullwidth widget--animation-fade-in widget--align-center\" data-ratio=\"0.562037037037037\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio--auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <figure class=\"widget__figure\">\n <img class=\"widgetImage__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////static.euronews.com//articles//stories//04//14//26//22//808x454_cmsv2_a76f0197-7167-561f-ba5a-8dc854a81f77-4142622.jpg/" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/22\/384x216_cmsv2_a76f0197-7167-561f-ba5a-8dc854a81f77-4142622.jpg 384w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/22\/640x360_cmsv2_a76f0197-7167-561f-ba5a-8dc854a81f77-4142622.jpg 640w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/22\/750x422_cmsv2_a76f0197-7167-561f-ba5a-8dc854a81f77-4142622.jpg 750w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/22\/828x465_cmsv2_a76f0197-7167-561f-ba5a-8dc854a81f77-4142622.jpg 828w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/22\/1080x607_cmsv2_a76f0197-7167-561f-ba5a-8dc854a81f77-4142622.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/22\/1200x674_cmsv2_a76f0197-7167-561f-ba5a-8dc854a81f77-4142622.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/22\/1920x1079_cmsv2_a76f0197-7167-561f-ba5a-8dc854a81f77-4142622.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 95vw, (max-width: 1330px) 70vw, 900px\"\/>\n <figcaption class=\"widget__caption\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionWrap\">\n \n <span class=\"widget__captionCredit\">Image sent to media organizations including Euronews by unnamed refugee<\/span>\n <\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<p>During one of the many protests in the Zintan hangar, migrants held banners reading: \u201cWe are victims by UNHCR in Libya\u201d and \u201cWe are abused by human rights organisation\u201d. Their struggle is visible in social media images leaked by journalists such as <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////twitter.com//sallyhayd/" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Sally Hayden<\/a> and reported by media <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////apnews.com//43eb47c8ce6b4946a91f8c37f41c7cbe/" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\">including AP<\/a> and NGOs such as <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.doctorswithoutborders.org//what-we-do//news-stories//news//libya-detained-refugees-and-asylum-seekers-die-suspected-tuberculosis/" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\">MSF.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>One migrant detained in Zintan told Euronews:<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-quotation\n widget--size-fullwidth\n widget--align-center\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__content\">\n <blockquote class=\"widget__quote\">\n <span class=\"widget__quoteText\">UNHCR does not have any plan to support us. We don\u2019t have any relationships with UNHCR for a long time<\/span>\n <\/blockquote>\n <cite class=\"widget__author\">\n <\/cite>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<p>The UN agency for refugees \u201cinterviewed only 39 of these starving 650... in Zintan in June. Two days ago, only 27 of them were fingerprinted for evacuation\u201d` tweeted human right lawyer Giulia Tranchina.<\/p>\n<p>Having rejected the Zintan option after the shooting in Qasr bin Ghashir, migrants were finally resettled in the Az-Z\u0101wiyah centre. Some others fled: among them a migrant with his pregnant wife. We will talk about their fate shortly.<\/p>\n<p>Back to the Az-Z\u0101wiyah centre. This specific facility is run by a militia sanctioned by the UN for human trafficking. One migrant told Euronews that UNHCR staff member called Waleed supports the resident militia:<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-quotation\n widget--size-fullwidth\n widget--align-center\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__content\">\n <blockquote class=\"widget__quote\">\n <span class=\"widget__quoteText\">\u2018Waleed is always trying to support the prison boss and sometimes even tried to praise and cover up for him when he does wrong. Through his closeness to Osama, many migrants have concluded that they are brothers or in-laws.\u2019<\/span>\n <\/blockquote>\n <cite class=\"widget__author\">\n <\/cite>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<p>This claim pertaining to a proximal relationship between the UNHCR representative and a senior militia member involved in the running of the centre is also referenced in an article by the Israeli news outlet, <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.haaretz.com//amp//middle-east-news//.premium-thousands-of-african-refugees-get-trapped-in-hell-on-the-way-to-europe-1.7800045?__twitter_impression=true\%22 target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Haaretz<\/a>. Here, Waleed is quoted referring to the camp manager as a 'cousin'. According to a migrant Euronews interviewed, this kind of scenario also played out at Abu Salim detention centre, near the front line: \u201cThe UNHCR guy never speaks with refugees and is friends with local police\u201d. He also said the last time the UN agency came to register someone \u201cwas 6 months ago\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>We asked UNHCR spokespersons about the allegations pertaining to Osama and Waleed, but this specific point was not addressed by their response to us.<\/p>\n<p>A source inside the Az-Z\u0101wiyah centre tells us Osama and his men shot at migrants who refused to follow traffickers to whom they had been sold. \u201cSeveral times there have been gunshots since we got here. Twice when the prisoners made attempts to escape, and about four were shot in their legs and two were shot dead\u201d.<\/p>\n<h3>Thus, in both centres where the UNHCR operated, Qasr bin Ghashir and Az-Z\u0101wiyah, migrants were fired at.<\/h3>\n<p>One migrant from Guinea, Moussa (not his real name), says he was shot twice in the ankles at Az-Z\u0101wiyah. He says he ended up there after three different attempts to cross the Mediterranean, and four subsequent extortion attempts to be freed. In the prisons he visited, he claims to have been repeatedly tortured. Once intercepted by <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.apnews.com//dfac3e4d1f2f49cdb78edca9951a7a04/" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\">the Az-Z\u0101wiyah coast guard unit, connected to the Osama gang<\/a>, Moussa was brought to the centre \u201cand we stayed two days without food\u201d, he tells Euronews_._ A revolt broke out among refugees and was sedated with gunshots: \u201cA Sudanese next to me was hit in the guts and died on the spot. His body was thrown in the desert\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Later on, Osama reportedly told a seriously wounded Moussa to contact a guy called \u201cMohamed\u201d, who set the price for his fourth attempt to cross the Mediterranean: 3,000 dinars (around 2,000 euros). Moussa was finally saved at sea by the Open Arms vessel and is now safe in Italy.<\/p>\n<p>Moussa was luckier than the migrant who managed to run away from the shooting at Qasr bin Ghashir with his pregnant wife. We will call them Mohamad and Aya.<\/p>\n<p>Immediately after 325 refugees were transferred from there to Az-Z\u0101wiyah detention centre, UNHCR <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.unhcr.org//news//press//2019//4//5cc701e04//amid-hostilities-libya-146-refugees-evacuated-italy.html/" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\">evacuated<\/a> more than 140 migrants out of Libya. When the names of Mohamad and Aya were called, they were not there and missed their chance to leave the country for a safer one. Ever since then, they are stranded in the streets of Tripoli with their new-born baby like the majority of asylum-seekers in Libya. \u201cWe fear going out\u201d, they say to Euronews referring to the dangers of having no protection in the Libyan capital. \u201cWe escaped from the detention centre because the military came to attack us\u201d.<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-image widget--size-fullwidth widget--animation-fade-in widget--align-center\" data-ratio=\"0.6666666666666666\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio--auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <figure class=\"widget__figure\">\n <img class=\"widgetImage__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////static.euronews.com//articles//stories//04//14//26//32//808x539_cmsv2_49a12214-ff95-5149-9485-66736d726c89-4142632.jpg/" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/32\/384x256_cmsv2_49a12214-ff95-5149-9485-66736d726c89-4142632.jpg 384w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/32\/640x427_cmsv2_49a12214-ff95-5149-9485-66736d726c89-4142632.jpg 640w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/32\/750x500_cmsv2_49a12214-ff95-5149-9485-66736d726c89-4142632.jpg 750w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/32\/828x552_cmsv2_49a12214-ff95-5149-9485-66736d726c89-4142632.jpg 828w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/32\/1080x720_cmsv2_49a12214-ff95-5149-9485-66736d726c89-4142632.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/32\/1200x800_cmsv2_49a12214-ff95-5149-9485-66736d726c89-4142632.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/32\/1920x1280_cmsv2_49a12214-ff95-5149-9485-66736d726c89-4142632.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 95vw, (max-width: 1330px) 70vw, 900px\"\/>\n <figcaption class=\"widget__caption\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionWrap\">\n \n <span class=\"widget__captionCredit\">Detention center in Khoms. Copyright: Sara Creta<\/span>\n <\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<p>Now Mohamad cannot enter the UNHCR's Gathering and Departure Facility (GDF) in Tripoli as his case is not among those entitled to evacuation. By running away from the bullets, they lost their right to get out of Libya. They had repeatedly tried to contact UNHCR offices both in Tripoli and Geneva, both had received no answers. \u201cI am going to the office to ask about my case and some assistance like food and shelter, still nobody helping me\u201d.<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-quotation\n widget--size-fullwidth\n widget--align-center\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__content\">\n <blockquote class=\"widget__quote\">\n <span class=\"widget__quoteText\">Why does UNHCR want to keep us in prison?<\/span>\n <\/blockquote>\n <cite class=\"widget__author\">\n <div class=\"widget__authorText\">\n 'Mohamad'\n <\/div>\n <\/cite>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<p>A UNHCR officer explained to Euronews that resettlement is prioritised according to vulnerability because of the lack of available places, and - crucially - one key element of this is physically being in a detention centre as this is where conditions are at their worst. People who escape from the centre don\u2019t realise that this affects their prioritisation for resettlement.<\/p>\n<p>It can be read this way: if refugees want to have any chance of being resettled, they need to stay in detention centres and wait. No matter what. This is discussed further in \u27a1\ufe0f <strong>SEE PART 3<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-freeform\nwidget--size-fullwidth\nwidget--align-center\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio--auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <div style=\"background-color:#DBF3FA; font-size:1em; padding:8px;margin: 0.2em 0.5em;border-radius:8px;width:95%;\"> <h4>UNHCR in Libya, the investigation<\/h4> <p> <li><a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.euronews.com//2019//10//02//unhcr-in-libya-part-1-from-standing-withrefugees-to-standing-withstates/">UNHCR in Libya Part 1: From standing #WithRefugees to standing #WithStates? <\/a><\/li> <li><a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.euronews.com//2019//10//02//unhcr-in-libya-part-2-migrants-in-detention-centres-why-does-unhcr-want-to-keep-us-in-pris/">UNHCR in Libya Part 2: Migrants in detention centres: 'Why does UNHCR want to keep us in prison?'<\/a><\/li> <li><a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.euronews.com//2019//10//03//unhcr-in-libya-part-3-former-staffer-blows-whistle-on-favouritism-and-culture-of-impunity/">UNHCR in Libya Part 3: Former staffer blows whistle on favouritism and 'culture of impunity' <\/a><\/li> <li><a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.euronews.com//2019//10//03//unhcr-in-libya-part-4-the-detention-centres-the-map-and-the-stories/">UNHCR in Libya Part 4: The detention centres - the map and the stories<\/a><\/li> <\/p> <\/div> \n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n","hashtag":null,"createdAt":1568026942,"updatedAt":1723539856,"publishedAt":1570028181,"firstPublishedAt":1570028183,"lastPublishedAt":1570459386,"expiresAt":0,"images":[{"url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/22\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_6d9aa75f-c36c-52f8-ac97-dad30ce21c85-4142622.jpg","altText":null,"caption":null,"captionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"Migrants at Qasr Bin Gashir","sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"callToActionText":null,"width":1080,"height":631},{"url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/22\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_e6948192-c54d-5c54-b725-053ce8bc11bb-4142622.jpg","altText":null,"caption":null,"captionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"Migrants at Qasr Bin Gashir","sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"callToActionText":null,"width":2000,"height":1125},{"url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/22\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_e18ada6d-9a73-5edc-abc5-f739585e9438-4142622.jpg","altText":null,"caption":null,"captionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"Image sent to media organizations including Euronews by unnamed refugee","sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"callToActionText":null,"width":2000,"height":1125},{"url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/26\/22\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_2833267b-db16-59c5-97f4-a284a8adef1b-4142622.jpg","altText":null,"caption":null,"captionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"Image sent to media organizations including Euronews by unnamed 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Monella","twitter":"@lillomontalto"}],"producers":[],"videoEditor":[]},"keywords":[{"id":10833,"slug":"unhcr","urlSafeValue":"unhcr","title":"UNHCR","titleRaw":"UNHCR"},{"id":172,"slug":"libya","urlSafeValue":"libya","title":"Libya","titleRaw":"Libya"},{"id":12102,"slug":"migrant-crisis","urlSafeValue":"migrant-crisis","title":"Migrant Crisis","titleRaw":"Migrant Crisis"},{"id":13450,"slug":"migration","urlSafeValue":"migration","title":"migration","titleRaw":"migration"},{"id":14795,"slug":"immersive-tpl","urlSafeValue":"immersive-tpl","title":"immersive-tpl","titleRaw":"immersive-tpl"},{"id":21468,"slug":"unhcr-in-libya","urlSafeValue":"unhcr-in-libya","title":"UNHCR in Libya","titleRaw":"UNHCR in 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UNHCR IN LIBYA: GEOPOLITICS","daletPyramidId":null,"channels":[{"id":1},{"id":2},{"id":4},{"id":5},{"id":12}],"status":2,"title":"UNHCR in Libya Part 1: From standing #WithRefugees to standing #WithStates?","titleSeo":null,"titleListing1":"Who are the UNHCR really working to help - refugees or states?","titleListing2":"UNHCR in Libya Part 1: From standing #WithRefugees to standing #WithStates: is UNHCR a \"fig leaf\" for the EU in Libya?","leadin":"Euronews has undertaken an investigation into the UNHCR's operation in Libya, where tens of thousands of migrants live in detainment camps, hoping to make it to Europe.","summary":"Euronews has undertaken an investigation into the UNHCR's operation in Libya, where tens of thousands of migrants live in detainment camps, hoping to make it to Europe.","keySentence":"","url":"unhcr-in-libya-part-1-from-standing-withrefugees-to-standing-withstates","canonical":"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/2019\/10\/02\/unhcr-in-libya-part-1-from-standing-withrefugees-to-standing-withstates","masterCms":"v2","plainText":"October 3rd is a day upon which the UNHCR \"remember and commemorate all the victims of immigration and promote awareness-raising and solidarity initiatives.\" \n\nWith that very sentiment in mind, Euronews has undertaken an investigation into the UNHCR's operation in Libya, where tens of thousands of migrants live in detainment camps, hoping to make it to Europe. \n\nWe uncover the extent of neglect in terms of care that can be found where migrants wait to be processed. We ask why the UN's humanitarian agency cannot have the required access in Libya when the mother organisation - The United Nations - is working with the Tripoli-based government. We ask why there is a severe lack of transparency surrounding the agency's operation and we talk to some of the migrants involved in the process and allow them to tell their stories. \n\nThe tweet that got us thinking \n\nIn August, a couple of tweets sent by the UNHCR\u2019s special envoy for the Central Mediterranean, Vincent Cochetel, raised more than one eyebrow . \n\nFirst he expressed concern over what he termed the \u201cradicalisation of migratory dreams\u201d, then he added that it is \u201cabnormal\u201d that some refugees refuse language and training classes just because they only want to go to the EU. \n\nHe later said he had been misunderstood. Nevertheless, the question arises: why is the UN refugee agency accusing people under their remit, people in need of international protection, of having unrealistic hopes for safety? \n\nAccording to sources who know the mechanisms of the UNHCR, his remarks are symptomatic of a few things: \n\nincreasing frustration due to the ongoing situation in Libya \nrealpolitik \na progressive shift towards the political disposition of its second biggest donor: the European Union. \n\nLibya, migration, standards and human rights \n\nFirstly, the European Union bankroll the EU Trust Fund for Africa , counting on the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and UNHCR to ensure that the migration management and asylum system in Libya is consistent with the main international standards and human rights. \"The UN agencies are our main partners in our work in Libya mainly to protect people in need\", an EU spokesperson tells Euronews . \n\nThen there is a dysfunctional Libyan government (one of two) which is backed by the UN yet does not recognise the UNHCR - the UN's very own agency - operating in the country without a memorandum of understanding. \n\nFinally, there are more than 50,000 registered refugees and asylum-seekers; the majority of them (91%) live in urban settings while 4,673 are estimated to be locked up in 26-30 detention centres often run by unlicensed parties, where human rights abuses are a daily issue. \n\nThis is the context in which the UN agency for refugees has to work \u201cwith a tenuous status and without ongoing guarantees of security\u201d, points out Dr. Melissa Phillips, an Adjunct Fellow at Western Sydney University and independent migration researcher. \n\nAmid the \u201chyper concerns on the \u2018migration issue\u2019 in Europe, which previously funded detention centres in Libya, nobody has taken a step back to look at the system that needs to be put in place in the country. Everybody is just in reaction mode. Even though it may not be possible to build up an asylum system in the country at this time, greater efforts must be made to establish a system to work on the ground. This includes work visas and recognising temporary labour migrants,\" she went on. \n\nThe UNHCR, which claims it can only register asylum seekers and refugees belonging to 9 nationalities or communities , (Iraqi, Syrian, Palestinian, Sudanese, South Sudanese, Eritrea, Ethiopian, Yemeni, and Somali) is facing criticism from various NGOs and human rights activists for the lack of transparency regarding its Libyan operations. Back in June, former UNHCR staff member, Jeff Crisp, now writing for the Refugee Studies Centre and Chatham House, asked 20 questions that remain publicly unanswered at the time of writing in September. Among them: \n\nThese questions reflect real concerns voiced by those migrants locked up in detention centres that Euronews had the chance to speak with. They accuse the Libyan staff of the UN agency of neglecting them, of severe delays in registration procedures and of complicity with the heads of the detention centres to the point of covering up their abuses. \u27a1\ufe0f SEE PART 2 . \n\nShooting...or nothing at all? \n\nWhen in April 2019 a revolt reportedly broke out in the Qasr bin Ghashir facility, near Tripoli, refugees described being shot at indiscriminately by militias. UNHCR - who said it evacuated 325 people - sent out this press release suggesting guns were fired in the air. However, both MSF and Amnesty concluded that migrants had actually incurred gunshots wounds, and made calls for war crimes investigations into the incident. UNHCR has been asked but has not responded to Euronews on why it published a press release specifically denying this. \n\nRefugees were subsequently transferred into the militia-run Az-Z\u0101wiyah detention centre where they reported torture and extortion in its hangar. Here, in June another group of people was shot at while protesting about being deprived of food by the controlling militias. \u27a1\ufe0f SEE PART 2 \n\nThis centre, where UNHCR operates, has known links to a coast guard unit and is run by the infamous Al-Nasr brigade, whose leader Mohammed Kachlaf is under UN Security Council Sanctions for human trafficking. According to J\u00e9r\u00f4me Tubiana, a researcher working on sub-Saharan migration, UNHCR alignment with EU policies \u201ceven seems to contradict UN global policies as both EU and UNHCR consider acceptable to work with the Az-Z\u0101wiyah Al-Nasr brigade although its leaders are under UN sanctions: cooperating with their forces may constitute a violation of the sanctions\u201d. \n\nAn EU spokesperson, when appraised of our investigation, made a number of comments. One of which was a denouncement of the aforementioned Al Nasr brigade. \n\n\"The EU does not support the Al Nasr Brigade and we have worked closely with EU Member States to extend sanctions to traffickers under UN regimes.\" He added that \"none of the coastguards trained by Operation Sophia is on the UN sanctions list.\" \n\nCharlie Yaxley, UNHCR Global Spokesperson for Africa and the Mediterranean\/Libya, notes the difficulties in coordinating any kind of operation in Libya. \n\n\"The work we are able to carry out in detention centres is limited, as these are run by the Libyan authorities. Our access is restricted and we are limited to carrying out registration, protection assessments, medical referrals\/treatment and providing basic relief items. Visits to detention centres are coordinated in advance, visits are never unannounced and access to the UNHCR teams needs to be granted in advance. UNHCR does not consider the detention centres safe for refugees.\" \n\nSo how can this be resolved? The UN recognises the Government of National Accord in Libya, therefore if the 'Libyan authorities' run the centres, shouldn't the UN's agency be granted better access? Yaxley does not shy away from acknowledging that the \"situation inside detention centres is appalling\" so where is the plan? \n\nOther accusations from sources both within Libya and international aid experts include \n\ndiscrimination against migrants living in an urban context; \ncorruption in evacuation facilities; \nmismanagement of verification processes; \na system of protection based on nationalities - creating favouritism; \nhundreds of migrants' messages left unanswered; \nlaptops purchased for inflated prices - some more than 5,800 US dollars. \n\nEach will be discussed in part 3 of this investigation, published on 3 October. \n\nThirty years to resettle? \n\nUNHCR's most effective talent lies in the evacuation of refugees out of Libya. However, \u201csince resettlements from Libya began in late \u201817, they were able to resettle some 2,000 a year, which means it would take them 30 years to resettle all those they already registered \u201d, argues J\u00e9r\u00f4me Tubiana. \u201cAnd this is largely due to EU policies. Because of the lack of slots in Europe, UNHCR in Libya prioritises those they believe are the most vulnerable, young minors, women, families. For single adult males, even very political cases for whom returning home likely means arrest or death, being resettled seems almost impossible\u201d. \n\n\u201cFurther, such cases also face the fact that UNHCR agents in Libya know little about complicated contexts such as Eritrea or Darfur. In practice, fundamental criteria for political asylum are thus abandoned in favour of a selection based on numbers and types of individuals accepted by the EU. In fact, demands of asylum seekers are not \"radical\" at all, they are just asking for UNHCR to fulfil its mandate properly and respect the very principles which justify its existence\u201d, asserts Tubiana. \n\nUNHCR's mandate is to find a solution for refugees, but not necessarily one that a migrant will be content with. They simply have to find a safe solution. \u201cFrustration arises from here\u201d, a source told us. \u201cSometimes it is not what refugees want\u201d. \n\nMelissa Phillips says that all evidence points to the fact that migrants in Libya use smartphones and are well aware of stories such as Rahaf Al-Qunun, the Saudi woman who was immediately granted asylum in Canada after she barricaded herself in an airport hotel in Thailand . \u201cRefugees see this and it sends them a message about a different weight\u201d in the resettlement policies by UNHCR, which celebrated it as a success story. \u201cPeople have aspirations and desires, it just might be that these dreams are inconvenient for us\u201d. \n\nPowerless? \n\n\u201cI can confirm that UNHCR does not have any power to stop or prevent the horrific tortures and rapes against refugees in the official detention centres\u201d, Giulia Tranchina, an immigration solicitor in London who has worked for years with asylum-seekers in Libya, tells Euronews. \u201cWidespread incidents of torture, intentional starvation and war crimes perpetrated against detained migrants and refugees in Libya, as documented in the reports by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights , clearly show how UNHCR is not in a position to be able to \u2018improve conditions\u2019 in detention centres and how Europe\u2019s funding and support to the Libyan authorities amounts to complicity in these crimes. The EU\u2019s claims that funding to UNHCR is meant to 'improve conditions' in these centres is demolished not only by the evidence but also by UNHCR's own statements constantly stressing that they don't manage such centres and often don't have access or permission by the authorities to assist detained refugees\". \n\nFollow the money \n\nSo what is going on internally at UNHCR? \u201cFollow the money is always a good rule\u201d, a professor of human rights told us, referring to this case. \n\nMost of UNHCR funding comes from a dozen key donor states but the level of this funding has not kept up with the rising numbers the agency is expected to support, argues former UNHCR official, Jeff Crisp. Almost 90 percent of the agency\u2019s funding is provided by states and UNHCR\u2019s governing board consists entirely of states. \n\nAn informed source believes UNHCR fears losing funding from the US (its largest donor by far, contributing more than 40% of its budget alone) thus attempting a closer alignment with the EU. \n\nFor financial year 2018, the U.S. contribution to UNHCR reached an historic high of nearly $1.6 billion, up $0.2 billion from 2017, when the Trump administration threatened to reduce UN funding by up to 50 percent. In the end, the US decided to spare UNHCR and cut their support only to UNRWA (the UN agency for Palestinian refugees). As for 2019, the US have only slightly reduced their funds pledge to UNHCR and at time of writing have already contributed up to 70 or 80% of it. \n\n\u201cIt is always difficult to predict if states will actually fund UNHCR to the level they have committed to in the first place. What is sure, is that between 2015-2018, the EU's contribution to UNHCR's work has proportionally increased far more than the US's one which has, on average, remained more or less stable over that period of time\u201d, analyses Marion Fresa, professor of anthropology of international aid at the University of Neuchatel. \n\n\u201cThis is, however, less due to UNHCR's willingness to be closer to the EU, then to the way the EU has been addressing the so-called \"refugee crisis\" since 2015, by funding an ever expanding security-humanitarian apparatus to contain migrants at its borders and externalise refugee protection to its neighbouring countries- an apparatus of which the UNHCR is a part.\" \n\nOver the past 20 years, the agency has tried to diversify its sources of funding by building partnerships with multinational corporations such as Microsoft, Nike or more recently IKEA, and raising funds from private foundations, NGOs and the wider public. It has also tried to convince non-traditional donor states such as Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Korea or China to contribute to its work. \u201cHowever, the major part of UNHCR\u2019s budget still relies on the same key countries, and its diversification efforts have not necessarily led the agency to be more neutral or less politicised\u201d continues Fresa. \n\n\u201cFirst, because UNHCR remains, in any case, an intergovernmental organisation, and as such, its mandate has always been shaped by states' concerns and by a state-centred vision of refugees as being a \"problem\". Second, to fulfil its mandate (ensure the right to seek asylum and seek solutions for refugees), UNHCR is dependant on states' willingness to cooperate and thus, constantly needs to engage in highly political negotiations with them. Third, building financial partnerships with, for instance, other actors then states does not mean UNHCR will be less political: earmarked funding from big corporations may also have some significant political effects, such as turning refugees into commodities or transforming the protection of refugees into an economical rather then a political or humanitarian issue. So, diversifying its sources of funding does not necessarily make UNHCR a more \"neutral\" or \"apolitical\" organisation. Over time, UNHCR has actually become a political player in its own right within the complex field of migration management, defending its own organisational interests and visions of what refugee protection should be\u201d. \n\nThis idea of a humanitarian body having to become a political player in order to be operational within the structures of international politics is not surprising, but it is worth examining how much this inevitable manoeuvring affects its ability to fulfil its remit. \n\nSince its establishment, the primary goal of UNHCR has been to hold state signatories of the 1951 Refugee Convention accountable for their international commitments and obligations. This means monitoring states' efforts to comply with international refugee law and developing standards to guide them in their effort to develop national asylum systems. \n\nAre the UNHCR a 'fig leaf' for the EU? \n\nAs Sandvick and Jacobsen have shown in the edited volume \"UNHCR and the struggle for accountability\" (2016), ambitious structural and managerial reforms were undertaken in the early 2000s to improve UNHCR's accountability towards its donors and beneficiaries. Yet, this had the unintended effects to make the organisation more bureaucratised, \"thus, raising new challenges regarding the risk of transforming refugee protection into a merely technocratic endeavour, rather than a political issue,'' adds Fresia. \n\n\u201cI think UNHCR is becoming progressively less critical in the last years\u201d, says a qualified source who prefers to remain anonymous. \u201cFocussing on marketing branding and celebrity endorsement instead of focussing on refugees as they should be doing\u201d. \n\nJames Hathaway, director of the program in refugee and asylum law at the University of Michigan Law School was quoted by development media outlet Devex as saying the refugee convention that the UNHCR enforces is the only U.N. convention that doesn\u2019t have an independent supervisory authority, and that is part of its problem. \n\nOmer Shatz, an international law lecturer at the Paris Institute of Political Studies (SciencesPo) who filed a legal case to prosecute the EU and member states to the international criminal court (ICC), reckons \u201cit is time the UNHCR remains neutral and ceases to serve as the fig leaf of the EU in Libyan concentration camps and the Mediterranean. The situation is under ICC investigation and all actors involved, including UN agents, may be held accountable\". \n\nThe same hope is shared by Tranchina (\u201cEU government should stop hiding themselves behind the presence of IOM and UNHCR on the ground\u201d) and Tubiana. \u201cIt seems UNHCR is gradually giving up defending asylum law and aligning on EU policies aiming at preventing migrants and refugees south-north movements, from Africa to Europe, pushing them as south as possible, and outsourcing migration control to African governments, without enough care for their poor records in terms of democracy and human rights\u201d. \n\nCochetel himself gave evidence that UNHCR is doubling efforts to give migrants solutions before they reach Libya: \u201cWe must make resettlement work better in the first country of asylum and should remove all incentives for secondary asylum\u201d. \n\n","htmlText":"<p>October 3rd is a day upon which the UNHCR \"remember and commemorate all the victims of immigration and promote awareness-raising and solidarity initiatives.\"<\/p>\n<p>With that very sentiment in mind, Euronews has undertaken an investigation into the UNHCR's operation in Libya, where tens of thousands of migrants live in detainment camps, hoping to make it to Europe.<\/p>\n<p>We uncover the extent of neglect in terms of care that can be found where migrants wait to be processed. We ask why the UN's humanitarian agency cannot have the required access in Libya when the mother organisation - The United Nations - is working with the Tripoli-based government. We ask why there is a severe lack of transparency surrounding the agency's operation and we talk to some of the migrants involved in the process and allow them to tell their stories.<\/p>\n<h2>The tweet that got us thinking<\/h2>\n<p>In August, a couple of tweets sent by the UNHCR\u2019s special envoy for the Central Mediterranean, Vincent Cochetel, <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.euronews.com//2019//08//21//unhcr-official-criticises-the-radicalisation-of-migratory-dreams/">raised more than one eyebrow<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>First he expressed concern over what he termed the \u201cradicalisation of migratory dreams\u201d, then he added that it is \u201cabnormal\u201d that some refugees refuse language and training classes just because they only want to go to the EU.<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-tweet widget--size-fullwidth widget--align-center\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio\u2014auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <figure class=\"widget__figure\">\n <div class=\"widget__tweet\" data-tweet-id=\"1163211553396707329\"><\/div>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<p>He later said he had been misunderstood. Nevertheless, the question arises: why is the UN refugee agency accusing people under their remit, people in need of international protection, of having unrealistic hopes for safety?<\/p>\n<p>According to sources who know the mechanisms of the UNHCR, his remarks are symptomatic of a few things:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>increasing frustration due to the ongoing situation in Libya<\/li>\n<li>realpolitik<\/li>\n<li>a progressive shift towards the political disposition of its second biggest donor: the European Union.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Libya, migration, standards and human rights<\/h2>\n<p>Firstly, the European Union bankroll the <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////ec.europa.eu//trustfundforafrica//region//north-africa//libya_en/" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\">EU Trust Fund for Africa<\/a>, counting on the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and UNHCR to ensure that the migration management and asylum system in Libya is consistent with the main international standards and human rights. \"The UN agencies are our main partners in our work in Libya mainly to protect people in need\", an EU spokesperson tells <em>Euronews<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Then there is a dysfunctional Libyan government (one of two) which is backed by the UN yet <strong>does not recognise the UNHCR - the UN's very own agency - operating in the country<\/strong> <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"http:////refugee-rights.org//leaving-libya-by-boat///" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\">without<\/a> a memorandum of understanding.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, there are more than 50,000 registered refugees and asylum-seekers; the majority of them (91%) live in urban settings while 4,673 are <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////reliefweb.int//sites//reliefweb.int//files//resources//70740-2.pdf/" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\">estimated<\/a> to be locked up in 26-30 detention centres often run by unlicensed parties, where human rights abuses are a daily issue.<\/p>\n<p>This is the context in which the UN agency for refugees has to work \u201cwith a tenuous status and without ongoing guarantees of security\u201d, points out Dr. Melissa Phillips, an Adjunct Fellow at Western Sydney University and independent migration researcher.<\/p>\n<p>Amid the \u201chyper concerns on the \u2018migration issue\u2019 in Europe, which previously funded detention centres in Libya, nobody has taken a step back to look at the system that needs to be put in place in the country. Everybody is just in reaction mode. Even though it may not be possible to build up an asylum system in the country at this time, greater efforts must be made to establish a system to work on the ground. This includes work visas and recognising temporary labour migrants,\" she went on.<\/p>\n<p>The UNHCR, which claims it can only register asylum seekers and refugees <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.unhcr.org//blogs//registration-is-a-right-for-refugees///" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\">belonging to 9 nationalities or communities<\/a>, (Iraqi, Syrian, Palestinian, Sudanese, South Sudanese, Eritrea, Ethiopian, Yemeni, and Somali) is facing criticism from various NGOs and human rights activists for the lack of transparency regarding its Libyan operations. Back in June, former UNHCR staff member, Jeff Crisp, now writing for the Refugee Studies Centre and Chatham House, asked <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////twitter.com//JFCrisp//status//1140653752409559040/" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\">20 questions<\/a> that remain publicly unanswered at the time of writing in September. Among them:<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-freeform\nwidget--size-fullwidth\nwidget--align-center\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio--auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <div style=\"padding:3px; padding-left:6px; border-left:4px solid #d0d0d0; background-color:#f1f1f1; margin-left:20px; font-style:italic;\">Has UNHCR ever seen any evidence that people have been maltreated by the coastguard in the process of interception and return?<br> What degree of access does UNHCR have to refugees and migrants who are held in detention? Is access ever refused, and if so, on what grounds? <br> Is UNHCR able to make unannounced visits to the detention centres? <br> Has UNHCR ever received evidence that detainees are ransomed, subjected to forced labour, tortured or sold? Has UNHCR ever received evidence that smugglers and traffickers operate in the detention centres? <\/div> \n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<p>These questions reflect real concerns voiced by those migrants locked up in detention centres that <em>Euronews<\/em> had the chance to speak with. They accuse the Libyan staff of the UN agency of neglecting them, of severe delays in registration procedures and of complicity with the heads of the detention centres to the point of covering up their abuses. \u27a1\ufe0f <strong><a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.euronews.com//2019//10//02//unhcr-in-libya-part-2-migrants-in-detention-centres-why-does-unhcr-want-to-keep-us-in-pris/">SEE PART 2<\/a> .<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Shooting...or nothing at all?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>When in April 2019 a revolt reportedly broke out in the Qasr bin Ghashir facility, near Tripoli, refugees described being shot at indiscriminately by militias. UNHCR - who said it evacuated 325 people - sent out this <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.unhcr.org//news//press//2019//4//5cc09a824//unhcr-evacuates-hundreds-detained-refugees-libya-safety.html/" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\">press release<\/a> suggesting guns were fired in the air. However, both <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.msf.org//time-running-out-evacuations-refugees-tripoli-amid-shooting-libya?component=video-262778\%22 target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\">MSF<\/a> and <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.amnesty.org//en//latest//news//2019//04//libya-horrific-attack-targeting-refugees-and-migrants-at-detention-centre-must-be-investigated-as-a-war-crime///" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Amnesty<\/a> concluded that migrants had actually incurred gunshots wounds, and made calls for war crimes investigations into the incident. UNHCR has been asked but has not responded to Euronews on why it published a <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.unhcr.org//news//press//2019//4//5cc09a824//unhcr-evacuates-hundreds-detained-refugees-libya-safety.html/" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\">press release specifically denying this.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Refugees were subsequently transferred into the militia-run Az-Z\u0101wiyah detention centre where they <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////reliefweb.int//sites//reliefweb.int//files//resources//sitrep_libya_en_05_may.pdf/" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\">reported<\/a> torture and extortion in its hangar. Here, in June another group of people was <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////twitter.com//GiuliaRastajuly//status//1136185881382064128/" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\">shot at<\/a> while protesting about being deprived of food by the controlling militias. \u27a1\ufe0f <strong><a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.euronews.com//2019//10//02//unhcr-in-libya-part-2-migrants-in-detention-centres-why-does-unhcr-want-to-keep-us-in-pris/">SEE PART 2<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This centre, where UNHCR operates, has known links to a coast guard unit and is run by the <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////observers.france24.com//en//20181002-migrants-escape-detention-libya-whatsapp-appeal/" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\">infamous<\/a> Al-Nasr brigade, whose leader Mohammed Kachlaf is under <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////scsanctions.un.org//consolidated///" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\">UN Security Council Sanctions<\/a> for <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.government.nl//latest//news//2018//06//07//dutch-initiative-un-sanctions-against-human-traffickers-in-libya/" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\">human trafficking.<\/a> According to J\u00e9r\u00f4me Tubiana, a researcher working on sub-Saharan migration, UNHCR alignment with EU policies \u201ceven seems to contradict UN global policies as both EU and UNHCR consider acceptable to work with the Az-Z\u0101wiyah Al-Nasr brigade although its leaders are under UN sanctions: cooperating with their forces may constitute a violation of the sanctions\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>An EU spokesperson, when appraised of our investigation, made a number of comments. One of which was a denouncement of the aforementioned Al Nasr brigade.<\/p>\n<p>\"The EU does not support the Al Nasr Brigade and we have worked closely with EU Member States to extend sanctions to traffickers under UN regimes.\" He added that \"none of the coastguards trained by Operation Sophia is on the UN sanctions list.\"<\/p>\n<p>Charlie Yaxley, UNHCR Global Spokesperson for Africa and the Mediterranean\/Libya, notes the difficulties in coordinating any kind of operation in Libya.<\/p>\n<p>\"The work we are able to carry out in detention centres is limited, as these are run by the Libyan authorities. Our access is restricted and we are limited to carrying out registration, protection assessments, medical referrals\/treatment and providing basic relief items. Visits to detention centres are coordinated in advance, visits are never unannounced and access to the UNHCR teams needs to be granted in advance. UNHCR does not consider the detention centres safe for refugees.\"<\/p>\n<p>So how can this be resolved? The UN recognises the Government of National Accord in Libya, therefore if the 'Libyan authorities' run the centres, shouldn't the UN's agency be granted better access? Yaxley does not shy away from acknowledging that the \"situation inside detention centres is appalling\" so where is the plan?<\/p>\n<p>Other accusations from sources both within Libya and international aid experts include<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>discrimination against migrants living in an urban context;<\/li>\n<li>corruption in evacuation facilities;<\/li>\n<li>mismanagement of verification processes;<\/li>\n<li>a system of protection based on nationalities - creating favouritism;<\/li>\n<li>hundreds of migrants' messages left unanswered;<\/li>\n<li>laptops purchased for inflated prices - some more than 5,800 US dollars.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Each will be discussed in part 3 of this investigation, published on 3 October.<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-quotation\n widget--size-fullwidth\n widget--align-center\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__content\">\n <blockquote class=\"widget__quote\">\n <span class=\"widget__quoteText\">The work we are able to carry out in detention centres is limited, as these are run by the Libyan authorities.<\/span>\n <\/blockquote>\n <cite class=\"widget__author\">\n <div class=\"widget__authorText\">\n Charlie Yaxley, UNHCR\n <\/div>\n <\/cite>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<h2>Thirty years to resettle?<\/h2>\n<p>UNHCR's most effective talent lies in the evacuation of refugees out of Libya. However, \u201csince resettlements from Libya began in late \u201817, they were able to resettle some 2,000 a year, which means <strong>it would take them 30 years to resettle all those they already registered<\/strong>\u201d, argues J\u00e9r\u00f4me Tubiana. \u201cAnd this is largely due to EU policies. Because of the lack of slots in Europe, UNHCR in Libya prioritises those they believe are the most vulnerable, young minors, women, families. For single adult males, even very political cases for whom returning home likely means arrest or death, being resettled seems almost impossible\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFurther, such cases also face the fact that UNHCR agents in Libya know little about complicated contexts such as Eritrea or Darfur. In practice, fundamental criteria for political asylum are thus abandoned in favour of a selection based on numbers and types of individuals accepted by the EU. In fact, demands of asylum seekers are not \"radical\" at all, they are just asking for UNHCR to fulfil its mandate properly and respect the very principles which justify its existence\u201d, asserts Tubiana.<\/p>\n<p>UNHCR's mandate is to find a solution for refugees, but not necessarily one that a migrant will be content with. They simply have to find a safe solution. \u201cFrustration arises from here\u201d, a source told us. \u201cSometimes it is not what refugees want\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Melissa Phillips says that all evidence points to the fact that migrants in Libya use smartphones and are well aware of stories such as Rahaf Al-Qunun, the Saudi woman <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.theguardian.com//world//2019//jan//11//canada-and-australia-in-talks-with-un-to-accept-saudi-asylum-seeker-rahaf-mohammed-al-qunun/" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\">who was immediately granted asylum in Canada after she barricaded herself in an airport hotel in Thailand<\/a>. \u201cRefugees see this and it sends them a message about a different weight\u201d in the resettlement policies by UNHCR, which celebrated it as a <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.unhcr.org//news//press//2019//1//5c38e9134//unhcr-statement-canadas-resettlement-saudi-national-rahaf-al-qunun.html/" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\">success story.<\/a> \u201cPeople have aspirations and desires, it just might be that these dreams are inconvenient for us\u201d.<\/p>\n<h2>Powerless?<\/h2>\n<p>\u201cI can confirm that UNHCR does not have any power to stop or prevent the horrific tortures and rapes against refugees in the official detention centres\u201d, Giulia Tranchina, an immigration solicitor in London who has worked for years with asylum-seekers in Libya, tells Euronews. \u201cWidespread incidents of torture, intentional starvation and war crimes perpetrated against detained migrants and refugees in Libya, as documented in the <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.ohchr.org//EN//NewsEvents//Pages//DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=24037&LangID=E\%22 target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\">reports by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights<\/a>, clearly show how UNHCR is not in a position to be able to \u2018improve conditions\u2019 in detention centres and how Europe\u2019s funding and support to the Libyan authorities amounts to complicity in these crimes. The EU\u2019s claims that funding to UNHCR is meant to 'improve conditions' in these centres is demolished not only by the evidence but also by UNHCR's own statements constantly stressing that they don't manage such centres and often don't have access or permission by the authorities to assist detained refugees\".<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-image widget--size-fullscreen widget--animation-fade-in widget--align-center\" data-ratio=\"0.6666666666666666\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio--auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <figure class=\"widget__figure\">\n <img class=\"widgetImage__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////static.euronews.com//articles//stories//04//14//25//94//1052x701_cmsv2_4bf7102e-1a11-5b3f-bf68-f527c911f9a6-4142594.jpg/" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/25\/94\/384x256_cmsv2_4bf7102e-1a11-5b3f-bf68-f527c911f9a6-4142594.jpg 384w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/25\/94\/640x427_cmsv2_4bf7102e-1a11-5b3f-bf68-f527c911f9a6-4142594.jpg 640w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/25\/94\/750x500_cmsv2_4bf7102e-1a11-5b3f-bf68-f527c911f9a6-4142594.jpg 750w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/25\/94\/828x552_cmsv2_4bf7102e-1a11-5b3f-bf68-f527c911f9a6-4142594.jpg 828w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/25\/94\/1080x720_cmsv2_4bf7102e-1a11-5b3f-bf68-f527c911f9a6-4142594.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/25\/94\/1200x800_cmsv2_4bf7102e-1a11-5b3f-bf68-f527c911f9a6-4142594.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/25\/94\/1920x1280_cmsv2_4bf7102e-1a11-5b3f-bf68-f527c911f9a6-4142594.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"100vw\"\/>\n <figcaption class=\"widget__caption\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionWrap\">\n \n <span class=\"widget__captionCredit\">Detention center in Tarik Sika. Photo: Sara Creta<\/span>\n <\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<h2>Follow the money<\/h2>\n<p>So what is going on internally at UNHCR? \u201cFollow the money is always a good rule\u201d, a professor of human rights told us, referring to this case.<\/p>\n<p>Most of UNHCR funding comes from a dozen key donor states but the level of this funding has not kept up with the rising numbers the agency is expected to support, <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.newsdeeply.com//refugees//community//2018//09//13//as-the-world-abandons-refugees-unhcrs-constraints-are-exposed/" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\">argues<\/a> former UNHCR official, Jeff Crisp. Almost 90 percent of the agency\u2019s funding is provided by states and UNHCR\u2019s governing board consists entirely of states.<\/p>\n<p>An informed source believes UNHCR fears losing funding from the US (its largest donor by far, contributing more than 40% of its budget alone) thus attempting a closer alignment with the EU.<\/p>\n<p>For financial year 2018, <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////geneva.usmission.gov//2018//12//12//u-s-statement-to-the-pledging-conference-of-the-united-nations-high-commissioner-for-refugees///" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\">the U.S. contribution<\/a> to UNHCR reached an historic high of nearly $1.6 billion, <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.unhcr.org//5a9fd8b12.pdf/" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\">up $0.2 billion<\/a> from 2017, when the Trump administration <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.newsdeeply.com//refugees//community//2017//04//06//u-n-refugee-agency-must-change-course-or-risk-obsolescence/" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\">threatened<\/a> to reduce UN funding by up to 50 percent. In the end, the US decided to spare UNHCR and cut their support only to UNRWA (the UN agency for Palestinian refugees). As for 2019, the US have only slightly reduced their funds pledge to UNHCR and at time of writing have already contributed up to 70 or 80% of it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is always difficult to predict if states will actually fund UNHCR to the level they have committed to in the first place. What is sure, is that between 2015-2018, the EU's contribution to UNHCR's work has proportionally increased far more than the US's one which has, on average, remained more or less stable over that period of time\u201d, analyses Marion Fresa, professor of anthropology of international aid at the University of Neuchatel.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is, however, less due to UNHCR's willingness to be closer to the EU, then to the way the EU has been addressing the so-called \"refugee crisis\" since 2015, by funding an ever expanding security-humanitarian apparatus to contain migrants at its borders and externalise refugee protection to its neighbouring countries- an apparatus of which the UNHCR is a part.\"<\/p>\n<p>Over the past 20 years, the agency has tried to diversify its sources of funding by building partnerships with multinational corporations such as Microsoft, Nike or more recently IKEA, and raising funds from private foundations, NGOs and the wider public. It has also tried to convince non-traditional donor states such as Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Korea or China to contribute to its work. \u201cHowever, the major part of UNHCR\u2019s budget still relies on the same key countries, and its diversification efforts have not necessarily led the agency to be more neutral or less politicised\u201d continues Fresa.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFirst, because UNHCR remains, in any case, an intergovernmental organisation, and as such, its mandate has always been shaped by states' concerns and by a state-centred vision of refugees as being a \"problem\". Second, to fulfil its mandate (ensure the right to seek asylum and seek solutions for refugees), UNHCR is dependant on states' willingness to cooperate and thus, constantly needs to engage in highly political negotiations with them. Third, building financial partnerships with, for instance, other actors then states does not mean UNHCR will be less political: earmarked funding from big corporations may also have some significant political effects, such as turning refugees into commodities or transforming the protection of refugees into an economical rather then a political or humanitarian issue. So, diversifying its sources of funding does not necessarily make UNHCR a more \"neutral\" or \"apolitical\" organisation. Over time, UNHCR has actually become a political player in its own right within the complex field of migration management, defending its own organisational interests and visions of what refugee protection should be\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>This idea of a humanitarian body having to become a political player in order to be operational within the structures of international politics is not surprising, but it is worth examining how much this inevitable manoeuvring affects its ability to fulfil its remit.<\/p>\n<p>Since its establishment, the primary goal of UNHCR has been to hold state signatories of the 1951 Refugee Convention accountable for their international commitments and obligations. This means monitoring states' efforts to comply with international refugee law and developing standards to guide them in their effort to develop national asylum systems.<\/p>\n<h2>Are the UNHCR a 'fig leaf' for the EU?<\/h2>\n<p>As Sandvick and Jacobsen have shown in the edited volume \"UNHCR and the struggle for accountability\" (2016), ambitious structural and managerial reforms were undertaken in the early 2000s to improve UNHCR's accountability towards its donors and beneficiaries. Yet, this had the unintended effects to make the organisation more bureaucratised, \"thus, raising new challenges regarding the risk of transforming refugee protection into a merely technocratic endeavour, rather than a political issue,'' adds Fresia.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think UNHCR is becoming progressively less critical in the last years\u201d, says a qualified source who prefers to remain anonymous. \u201cFocussing on marketing branding and celebrity endorsement instead of focussing on refugees as they should be doing\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>James Hathaway, director of the program in refugee and asylum law at the University of Michigan Law School was quoted by development media outlet Devex as saying <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.devex.com//news//unhcr-balances-interests-in-response-to-trump-asylum-policy-93849/" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\">the refugee convention that the UNHCR enforces is the only U.N. convention that doesn\u2019t have an independent supervisory authority, and that is part of its problem.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Omer Shatz, an international law lecturer at the Paris Institute of Political Studies (SciencesPo) who <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.statewatch.org//news//2019//jun//eu-icc-case-EU-Migration-Policies.pdf/" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\">filed a legal case<\/a> to prosecute the EU and member states to the international criminal court (ICC), reckons \u201cit is time the UNHCR remains neutral and ceases to serve as the fig leaf of the EU in Libyan concentration camps and the Mediterranean. The situation is under ICC investigation and all actors involved, including UN agents, may be held accountable\".<\/p>\n<p>The same hope is shared by Tranchina (\u201cEU government should stop hiding themselves behind the presence of IOM and UNHCR on the ground\u201d) and Tubiana. \u201cIt seems UNHCR is gradually giving up defending asylum law and aligning on EU policies aiming at preventing migrants and refugees south-north movements, from Africa to Europe, pushing them as south as possible, and outsourcing migration control to African governments, without enough care for their poor records in terms of democracy and human rights\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Cochetel himself <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.unric.org//en//latest-un-buzz//31370-unhcr-calls-for-us210-million-to-protect-refugees-along-the-routes-to-the-mediterranean/" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\">gave evidence<\/a> that UNHCR is doubling efforts to give migrants solutions before they reach Libya: \u201cWe must make resettlement work better in the first country of asylum and should remove all incentives for secondary asylum\u201d.<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-freeform\nwidget--size-fullwidth\nwidget--align-center\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio--auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-cards=\"hidden\" data-lang=\"en\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Risking your life in the jungle. You may flee from wars or other good reasons, but these expensive and dangerous journeys do not make sense. They testify on how people are desperate & determined to move, but protection is available closer to home. <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////t.co//LPuyGCkW90/" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/LPuyGCkW90<\/a><\/p>— vincent cochetel (@cochetel) <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////twitter.com//cochetel//status//1172408293416828928?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\%22 target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\">September 13, 2019<\/a><\/blockquote> <script async src=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////platform.twitter.com//widgets.js/" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script> \n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-freeform\nwidget--size-fullwidth\nwidget--align-center\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio--auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <div style=\"background-color:#DBF3FA; font-size:1em; padding:8px;margin: 0.2em 0.5em;border-radius:8px;width:95%;\"> <h4>UNHCR in Libya, the investigation<\/h4> <p> <li><a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.euronews.com//2019//10//02//unhcr-in-libya-part-1-from-standing-withrefugees-to-standing-withstates/">UNHCR in Libya Part 1: From standing #WithRefugees to standing #WithStates? <\/a><\/li> <li><a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.euronews.com//2019//10//02//unhcr-in-libya-part-2-migrants-in-detention-centres-why-does-unhcr-want-to-keep-us-in-pris/">UNHCR in Libya Part 2: Migrants in detention centres: 'Why does UNHCR want to keep us in prison?'<\/a><\/li> <li><a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.euronews.com//2019//10//03//unhcr-in-libya-part-3-former-staffer-blows-whistle-on-favouritism-and-culture-of-impunity/">UNHCR in Libya Part 3: Former staffer blows whistle on favouritism and 'culture of impunity' <\/a><\/li> <li><a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.euronews.com//2019//10//03//unhcr-in-libya-part-4-the-detention-centres-the-map-and-the-stories/">UNHCR in Libya Part 4: The detention centres - the map and the stories<\/a><\/li> <\/p> <\/div> \n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n","hashtag":null,"createdAt":1568026888,"updatedAt":1723539856,"publishedAt":1570028164,"firstPublishedAt":1570028173,"lastPublishedAt":1594831138,"expiresAt":0,"images":[{"url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/25\/94\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_465e057b-7ea2-5ef0-adf4-54a46c905f68-4142594.jpg","altText":null,"caption":null,"captionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"Illegal immigrants are seen at a detention centre in Zawiyah, 45 kilometres west of the Libyan capital Tripoli, on June 17, 2017 - Taha JAWASHI \/ AFP","sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"callToActionText":null,"width":1500,"height":844},{"url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/25\/94\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_d49acf7f-1494-5998-a786-1e09ea587fe4-4142594.jpg","altText":null,"caption":null,"captionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"Detention center in Tarik Sika. Photo: Sara Creta","sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"callToActionText":null,"width":2000,"height":1125},{"url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/25\/94\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_4b4f0a7c-58f1-5ed6-ae5b-71cb76426524-4142594.jpg","altText":null,"caption":null,"captionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"Illegal immigrants are seen at a detention centre in Zawiyah, 45 kilometres west of the Libyan capital Tripoli, on June 17, 2017 - Taha JAWASHI \/ AFP","sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"callToActionText":null,"width":2000,"height":1125},{"url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/25\/94\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_4bf7102e-1a11-5b3f-bf68-f527c911f9a6-4142594.jpg","altText":null,"caption":null,"captionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"Photo: Sara Creta","sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"callToActionText":null,"width":1500,"height":1000},{"url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/14\/25\/94\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_d66885ad-f884-5617-89a8-6ec1cf5d8048-4142594.jpg","altText":null,"caption":null,"captionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"Illegal immigrants are seen at a detention centre in Zawiyah, 45 kilometres west of the Libyan capital Tripoli, on June 17, 2017 - Taha JAWASHI \/ AFP","sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"callToActionText":null,"width":1500,"height":844}],"authors":{"journalists":[{"id":979,"urlSafeValue":"montalto-monella","title":"Lillo Montalto Monella","twitter":"@lillomontalto"}],"producers":[],"videoEditor":[]},"keywords":[{"id":10833,"slug":"unhcr","urlSafeValue":"unhcr","title":"UNHCR","titleRaw":"UNHCR"},{"id":172,"slug":"libya","urlSafeValue":"libya","title":"Libya","titleRaw":"Libya"},{"id":12102,"slug":"migrant-crisis","urlSafeValue":"migrant-crisis","title":"Migrant Crisis","titleRaw":"Migrant Crisis"},{"id":14795,"slug":"immersive-tpl","urlSafeValue":"immersive-tpl","title":"immersive-tpl","titleRaw":"immersive-tpl"},{"id":21468,"slug":"unhcr-in-libya","urlSafeValue":"unhcr-in-libya","title":"UNHCR in Libya","titleRaw":"UNHCR in Libya"}],"widgets":[{"slug":"image","count":1},{"slug":"twitter","count":1},{"slug":"html","count":3},{"slug":"quotation","count":1}],"related":[{"id":860018},{"id":860020}],"technicalTags":[],"externalPartners":{"dailymotionId":"x7m28ok"},"hasExternalVideo":1,"hasInternalOrExternalVideo":1,"video":1,"videos":[{"format":"mp4","quality":"md","type":"normal","url":"https:\/\/video.euronews.com\/mp4\/med\/EN\/WB\/SU\/19\/09\/09\/en\/190909_WBSU_9083223_9166827_107120_121501_en.mp4","editor":"","duration":20000,"filesizeBytes":0,"expiresAt":0}],"liveStream":[{"startDate":0,"endDate":0}],"scribbleLiveId":0,"scribbleLiveRibbon":0,"isLiveCoverage":0,"sourceId":1,"sources":[],"externalSource":null,"additionalSources":"Video: Sara Creta","additionalReporting":"","freeField1":null,"freeField2":"","type":"normal","displayType":"default","program":{"id":"world","urlSafeValue":"world","title":"World News","online":1,"url":"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/programs\/world"},"season":"","episode":"","episodeId":"","vertical":"news","verticals":[{"id":1,"slug":"news","urlSafeValue":"news","title":"News"}],"primaryVertical":{"id":1,"slug":"news","urlSafeValue":"news","title":"News"},"themes":[{"id":"news","urlSafeValue":"news","title":"World","url":"\/news\/international"}],"primaryTheme":{"id":1,"urlSafeValue":"news","title":"World"},"advertising":0,"advertisingData":{"startDate":0,"endDate":0,"type":null,"slug":null,"title":null,"disclaimerLabelKey":null,"sponsor":null,"sponsorName":null,"sponsorUrl":null,"sponsorLogo":"","sponsorLogoReverse":"","isDfp":0},"geoLocation":{"lat":0,"lon":0},"location":1,"continent":{"id":3,"urlSafeValue":"africa","title":"Africa"},"country":{"id":172,"urlSafeValue":"libya","title":"Libya","url":"\/news\/africa\/libya"},"town":{"id":4252,"urlSafeValue":"tripoli","title":"Tripoli"},"contextualSignals":{"doubleVerify":{"ids":[],"slugs":[]}},"grapeshot":"'neg_facebook_2021','castrol_negative_uk','neg_mobkoi_castrol','gs_politics','sm_politics','neg_facebook_q4','pos_equinor','pos_facebook','pos_pmi','gs_politics_misc','gs_law_misc','gs_law','neg_saudiaramco','gv_crime','neg_facebook','gt_negative','gs_society_charity'","versions":[],"programDeliverable":{"slug":"sujet","format":"default"},"showOpinionDisclaimer":0,"allViews":0,"allViewsMeta":{"pointOfView":[],"survey":[],"tweetId":0,"tweet2NdId":0,"displayOverlay":0},"storyTranslationMethod":[],"localisation":[],"autoPublished":0,"autoLocalised":0,"isReviewed":0,"path":"\/2019\/10\/02\/unhcr-in-libya-part-1-from-standing-withrefugees-to-standing-withstates","lastModified":1594831138},{"id":871816,"cid":4173274,"versionId":1,"archive":0,"housenumber":"190920_WBSU_9233019","owner":"euronews","isMagazine":0,"isBreakingNews":0,"daletEventName":"Web migrant shot in Libya","daletPyramidId":null,"channels":[{"id":1},{"id":2},{"id":4},{"id":5},{"id":12}],"status":2,"title":"Sudanese migrant shot dead after being returned to Libya","titleSeo":null,"titleListing1":"Sudanese migrant shot dead after being returned to Libya","titleListing2":"Sudanese migrant shot dead after being returned to Libya","leadin":"A Sudanese man was killed by a bullet would, the International Organization of Migration said.","summary":"A Sudanese man was killed by a bullet would, the International Organization of Migration said.","keySentence":"","url":"sudanese-migrant-shot-dead-after-being-returned-to-libya","canonical":"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/2019\/09\/20\/sudanese-migrant-shot-dead-after-being-returned-to-libya","masterCms":"v2","plainText":"A Sudanese man was shot dead just hours after the Libyan Coast Guard returned him to shore, the UN's migration body said. \n\nUN staffers witnessed the event which occurred in Tripoli on Thursday after 103 migrants had been returned to shore by the Libyan Coast Guard. \n\nInternational Organization for Migration (IOM) staff who were present to provide aid reported to the UN body that\u00a0armed men began shooting in the air when migrants tried to run away from their guards. \n\nMany of the migrants were resisting being sent back to Libyan detention centres.\u00a0 \n\n\u201cThis was tragedy waiting to happen,\" said IOM spokesperson Leonard Doyle in a statement . \"The use of live bullets against unarmed vulnerable civilians, men, women and children alike, is unacceptable under any circumstances and raises alarms over the safety of migrants and humanitarian staff.\" \n\nThe event comes just two months after 53 migrants were killed after an airstrike hit a migrant detention centre outside of Tripoli. \n\nCharlie Yaxley, the UN refugee agency's spokesman for Africa and the Mediterranean\/Libya, said the incident made it \"irrefutably clear that refugees and migrants must not be returned to Libya after being rescued at sea.\" \n\nIOM estimates that roughly 5,000 migrants are detained in inhumane conditions in Libya with over 3,000 detained in areas of active combat. \n\n\"The migrant was struck by a bullet in the stomach. Despite immediately receiving medical aid on the spot by an IOM doctor and then being transferred to a nearby clinic, he died two hours after admission,\" Safa Msehli, an IOM spokeswoman said at a UN briefing in Geneva on the incident. \n\nUN bodies and non-profit organisations have decried the inhumane conditions for migrants in Libya, where active conflict and instability persist. \n\nMany have also criticised European countries for blocking migrants from disembarking in ports after crossing the Mediterranean and for aiding Libyan authorities despite their use of detention centres. \n\n\n","htmlText":"<p>A Sudanese man was shot dead just hours after the Libyan Coast Guard returned him to shore, the UN's migration body said. <\/p>\n<p>UN staffers witnessed the event which occurred in Tripoli on Thursday after 103 migrants had been returned to shore by the Libyan Coast Guard. <\/p>\n<p>International Organization for Migration (IOM) staff who were present to provide aid reported to the UN body that\u00a0armed men began shooting in the air when migrants tried to run away from their guards. <\/p>\n<p>Many of the migrants were resisting being sent back to Libyan detention centres.\u00a0 <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis was tragedy waiting to happen,\" said IOM spokesperson Leonard Doyle in a <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.iom.int//news//iom-deplores-death-migrant-killed-thursday-upon-disembarkation-tripoli-0/" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\">statement<\/a>. \"The use of live bullets against unarmed vulnerable civilians, men, women and children alike, is unacceptable under any circumstances and raises alarms over the safety of migrants and humanitarian staff.\"<\/p>\n<p>The event comes just two months after 53 migrants were killed after an <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.euronews.com//2019//07//03//dozens-killed-in-libya-after-air-strike-hits-migrant-centre-outside-of-tripoli/">airstrike hit a migrant detention centre outside of Tripoli. <\/p>\n<p>Charlie Yaxley, the UN refugee agency's spokesman for Africa and the Mediterranean\/Libya, said the incident made it \"irrefutably clear that refugees and migrants must not be returned to Libya after being rescued at sea.\"<\/p>\n<p>IOM estimates that roughly 5,000 migrants are detained in inhumane conditions in Libya with over 3,000 detained in areas of active combat. <\/p>\n<p>\"The migrant was struck by a bullet in the stomach. Despite immediately receiving medical aid on the spot by an IOM doctor and then being transferred to a nearby clinic, he died two hours after admission,\" Safa Msehli, an IOM spokeswoman said at a UN briefing in Geneva on the incident.<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-tweet widget--size-fullwidth widget--align-center\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio\u2014auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <figure class=\"widget__figure\">\n <div class=\"widget__tweet\" data-tweet-id=\"1175077155086262273\"><\/div>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<p>UN bodies and non-profit organisations have decried the inhumane conditions for migrants in Libya, where active conflict and instability persist. <\/p>\n<p>Many have also <a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.amnesty.org//en//latest//news//2019//07//european-union-libya-act-now-to-save-lives///" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\">criticised<\/a> European countries for blocking migrants from disembarking in ports after crossing the Mediterranean and for aiding Libyan authorities despite their use of detention centres.<\/p>\n","hashtag":null,"createdAt":1569009756,"updatedAt":1723539856,"publishedAt":1569014108,"firstPublishedAt":1569014111,"lastPublishedAt":1569014111,"expiresAt":0,"images":[{"url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/17\/32\/74\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_3ff30f04-0719-5f7a-b4a0-579671104d11-4173274.jpg","altText":"Migrants are seen after being rescued by Libyan coast guard in Khoms in August","caption":"Migrants are seen after being rescued by Libyan coast guard in Khoms in August","captionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"REUTERS\/Ayman Sahely","sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"callToActionText":null,"width":4380,"height":2920}],"authors":{"journalists":[{"id":1828,"urlSafeValue":"chadwick","title":"Lauren Chadwick","twitter":null}],"producers":[],"videoEditor":[]},"keywords":[{"id":172,"slug":"libya","urlSafeValue":"libya","title":"Libya","titleRaw":"Libya"},{"id":13190,"slug":"migrants","urlSafeValue":"migrants","title":"Migrants","titleRaw":"Migrants"},{"id":13414,"slug":"mediterranean-sea","urlSafeValue":"mediterranean-sea","title":"Mediterranean Sea","titleRaw":"Mediterranean Sea"}],"widgets":[{"slug":"twitter","count":1}],"related":[],"technicalTags":[],"externalPartners":[],"hasExternalVideo":0,"hasInternalOrExternalVideo":0,"video":0,"videos":[],"liveStream":[{"startDate":0,"endDate":0}],"scribbleLiveId":0,"scribbleLiveRibbon":0,"isLiveCoverage":0,"sourceId":1,"sources":[],"externalSource":null,"additionalSources":"","additionalReporting":"","freeField1":null,"freeField2":"","type":"normal","displayType":"default","program":{"id":"world","urlSafeValue":"world","title":"World News","online":1,"url":"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/programs\/world"},"season":"","episode":"","episodeId":"","vertical":"news","verticals":[{"id":1,"slug":"news","urlSafeValue":"news","title":"News"}],"primaryVertical":{"id":1,"slug":"news","urlSafeValue":"news","title":"News"},"themes":[{"id":"news","urlSafeValue":"news","title":"World","url":"\/news\/international"}],"primaryTheme":{"id":1,"urlSafeValue":"news","title":"World"},"advertising":0,"advertisingData":{"startDate":0,"endDate":0,"type":null,"slug":null,"title":null,"disclaimerLabelKey":null,"sponsor":null,"sponsorName":null,"sponsorUrl":null,"sponsorLogo":"","sponsorLogoReverse":"","isDfp":0},"geoLocation":{"lat":0,"lon":0},"location":1,"continent":{"id":3,"urlSafeValue":"africa","title":"Africa"},"country":{"id":172,"urlSafeValue":"libya","title":"Libya","url":"\/news\/africa\/libya"},"town":[],"contextualSignals":{"doubleVerify":{"ids":[],"slugs":[]}},"grapeshot":"'neg_mobkoi_castrol','castrol_negative_uk','neg_facebook_2021','gv_arms','neg_mobkoi_feb2021','gv_death_injury','neg_facebook','neg_citi_campaign','neg_facebook_q4','neg_facebook_neg1','neg_bucherer','gs_society','neg_saudiaramco','gs_health','gs_society_misc','gs_law_misc','gs_health_misc','gs_law','gt_negative'","versions":[],"programDeliverable":{"slug":"sujet","format":"default"},"showOpinionDisclaimer":0,"allViews":0,"allViewsMeta":{"pointOfView":[],"survey":[],"tweetId":0,"tweet2NdId":0,"displayOverlay":0},"storyTranslationMethod":[],"localisation":[],"autoPublished":0,"autoLocalised":0,"isReviewed":0,"path":"\/2019\/09\/20\/sudanese-migrant-shot-dead-after-being-returned-to-libya","lastModified":1569014111},{"id":848588,"cid":4114530,"versionId":9,"archive":0,"housenumber":"190827_WBSU_8937499","owner":"euronews","isMagazine":0,"isBreakingNews":0,"daletEventName":"WEB Libya migrants tragedy","daletPyramidId":null,"channels":[{"id":1},{"id":2},{"id":4},{"id":5},{"id":12}],"status":2,"title":"UN demands action on refugees after 40 killed in Libyan shipwreck","titleSeo":null,"titleListing1":"UN demands action on refugees after 40 killed in Libyan shipwreck","titleListing2":"UN demands action on refugees after 40 killed in Libyan shipwreck","leadin":"UN demands action on refugees after 40 killed in Libyan shipwreck.","summary":"UN demands action on refugees after 40 killed in Libyan shipwreck.","keySentence":"","url":"at-least-40-people-dead-after-shipwreck-off-coast-of-libya","canonical":"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/2019\/08\/27\/at-least-40-people-dead-after-shipwreck-off-coast-of-libya","masterCms":"v2","plainText":"The United Nations has called for urgent action on migrants and refugees after 40 people were feared dead or missing after a shipwreck off the coast of Libya. \n\nThe UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, said that the capacity of the authorities to save lives at sea had decreased despite 900 people dying in the Mediterranean in 2019. \n\n\"This is what happens when the humanitarian act of rescue gets politicized. It is inhumane, immoral and illegal,\" he said. \n\nThe Libyan coastguard has intercepted or rescued 5,400 migrants in 2019, according to the UNHCR, as boats packed with migrants trying to reach Italy capsize off the north African country's coast. \n\nCharlie Yaxley, from the UNHCR, told Euronews that a rescue operation by local fishermen and the coastguard had been underway since Tuesday morning. He said the survivors included people from Sudan, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia. \n\n\"This highlights once again the urgent need for increased search and rescue capacity on the Mediterranean and for meaningful alternatives inside Libya so that refugees don\u2019t feel they have to take these fatal journeys in the first place,\" he said. \n\n\"Particularly on the Libya-to-Europe crossing, we are seeing an incredibly worrying rise in the rate that people are dying. We now have a situation where one person dies on that route for every six or seven people who reach European shores. \n\n\"Compared to previous years the total number of arrivals coming to Europe is down significantly but what we still see is a high loss of life, so there is no longer a crisis of arrivals, but instead a real crisis of deaths. \n\n\"It\u2019s been clear for some time now that the status quo cannot continue. We have had similar tragedies occurring far too often in recent weeks and months and each time we see an outpouring of expressions of sympathy but those sentiments must now translate into meaningful action.\" \n\nWant more news? \n\n","htmlText":"<p>The United Nations has called for urgent action on migrants and refugees after 40 people were feared dead or missing after a shipwreck off the coast of Libya.<\/p>\n<p>The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, said that the capacity of the authorities to save lives at sea had decreased despite 900 people dying in the Mediterranean in 2019.<\/p>\n<p>\"This is what happens when the humanitarian act of rescue gets politicized. It is inhumane, immoral and illegal,\" he said.<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-tweet widget--size-fullwidth widget--align-center\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio\u2014auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <figure class=\"widget__figure\">\n <div class=\"widget__tweet\" data-tweet-id=\"1166432822849990657\"><\/div>\n <figcaption class=\"widget__caption\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionWrap\">\n <span class=\"widget__captionText\">UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi says reaction to crisis is \"inhumane, immoral and illegal.\"<\/span>\n <\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<p>The Libyan coastguard has intercepted or rescued 5,400 migrants in 2019, according to the UNHCR, as boats packed with migrants trying to reach Italy capsize off the north African country's coast.<\/p>\n<p>Charlie Yaxley, from the UNHCR, told Euronews that a rescue operation by local fishermen and the coastguard had been underway since Tuesday morning. He said the survivors included people from Sudan, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia.<\/p>\n<p>\"This highlights once again the urgent need for increased search and rescue capacity on the Mediterranean and for meaningful alternatives inside Libya so that refugees don\u2019t feel they have to take these fatal journeys in the first place,\" he said.<\/p>\n<p>\"Particularly on the Libya-to-Europe crossing, we are seeing an incredibly worrying rise in the rate that people are dying. We now have a situation where one person dies on that route for every six or seven people who reach European shores.<\/p>\n<p>\"Compared to previous years the total number of arrivals coming to Europe is down significantly but what we still see is a high loss of life, so there is no longer a crisis of arrivals, but instead a real crisis of deaths.<\/p>\n<p>\"It\u2019s been clear for some time now that the status quo cannot continue. We have had similar tragedies occurring far too often in recent weeks and months and each time we see an outpouring of expressions of sympathy but those sentiments must now translate into meaningful action.\"<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-youtube-embed\nwidget--size-fullwidth\nwidget--align-center\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <figure class=\"widget__figure\">\n <div class=\"auto widget__ratio widget__ratio--16x9\">\n <iframe type=\"text\/html\" src=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.youtube.com//embed//w17yGjB6Zbw/" width=\"100%\" loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen seamless>\n <\/iframe>\n <\/div>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<h2>Want more news?<\/h2>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-freeform\nwidget--size-fullwidth\nwidget--align-center\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio--auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <iframe src=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////wb.messengerpeople.com//?widget_hash=3638143e4a3b4fbd5787ac11bc1b3c6d&lang=en&wn=0\%22 width=\"80%\" height=\"300px\" style=\"border:0;\" data-iframe-tracking=\"whatsapp\"><\/iframe> \n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n","hashtag":null,"createdAt":1566918480,"updatedAt":1723539856,"publishedAt":1566918925,"firstPublishedAt":1566918930,"lastPublishedAt":1566977656,"expiresAt":0,"images":[{"url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/11\/45\/30\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_8e386fcf-027b-5f1d-8df3-26aba4ba5fc7-4114530.jpg","altText":null,"caption":null,"captionUrl":null,"captionCredit":null,"sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"callToActionText":null,"width":1920,"height":1080},{"url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/11\/45\/30\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_03e6d8cc-f564-5571-91ba-b5ff16f31787-4114530.jpg","altText":null,"caption":null,"captionUrl":null,"captionCredit":null,"sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"callToActionText":null,"width":1920,"height":1080},{"url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/03\/29\/40\/60\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_2f522136-0838-5e33-ac54-8f8943f41dc4-3294060.jpg","altText":null,"caption":null,"captionUrl":null,"captionCredit":null,"sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"callToActionText":null,"width":1920,"height":1080}],"authors":{"journalists":[{"id":508,"urlSafeValue":"harris-c","title":"Chris Harris","twitter":"@euronews_chris"}],"producers":[],"videoEditor":[]},"keywords":[{"id":13190,"slug":"migrants","urlSafeValue":"migrants","title":"Migrants","titleRaw":"Migrants"},{"id":172,"slug":"libya","urlSafeValue":"libya","title":"Libya","titleRaw":"Libya"},{"id":10833,"slug":"unhcr","urlSafeValue":"unhcr","title":"UNHCR","titleRaw":"UNHCR"}],"widgets":[{"slug":"youtube","count":1},{"slug":"twitter","count":1},{"slug":"html","count":1}],"related":[{"id":851046}],"technicalTags":[],"externalPartners":{"youtubeId":"Tskhk6zpdss","dailymotionId":"x7i0rfu"},"hasExternalVideo":1,"hasInternalOrExternalVideo":1,"video":1,"videos":[{"format":"mp4","quality":"md","type":"normal","url":"https:\/\/video.euronews.com\/mp4\/med\/EN\/WB\/SU\/19\/08\/27\/en\/190827_WBSU_8937499_8942978_183480_093116_en.mp4","editor":"","duration":183480,"filesizeBytes":19578943,"expiresAt":0}],"liveStream":[{"startDate":0,"endDate":0}],"scribbleLiveId":0,"scribbleLiveRibbon":0,"isLiveCoverage":0,"sourceId":1,"sources":[],"externalSource":null,"additionalSources":"","additionalReporting":"Euronews","freeField1":null,"freeField2":"","type":"normal","displayType":"default","program":{"id":"world","urlSafeValue":"world","title":"World 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Migrant Boats","daletPyramidId":null,"channels":[{"id":1},{"id":2},{"id":4},{"id":5},{"id":12}],"status":2,"title":"'Migrants experiencing horrific circumstances in Libya,' says NGO","titleSeo":null,"titleListing1":"'Migrants experiencing horrific circumstances in Libya,' says NGO","titleListing2":"'Migrants experiencing horrific circumstances in Libya,' says NGO","leadin":"\"Ocean Viking\", operated by Doctors Without Borders (MSF) and SOS M\u00e9diterran\u00e9e, is stranded off the coast of Libya with around 356 migrants.","summary":"\"Ocean Viking\", operated by Doctors Without Borders (MSF) and SOS M\u00e9diterran\u00e9e, is stranded off the coast of Libya with around 356 migrants.","keySentence":"","url":"migrants-experiencing-horrific-circumstances-in-libya-says-ngo","canonical":"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/2019\/08\/13\/migrants-experiencing-horrific-circumstances-in-libya-says-ngo","masterCms":"v2","plainText":"The number of migrants stranded in the Mediterranean Sea has risen to more than 500.\u00a0 \n\nOpen Arms, the Spanish NGO operating one of the vessels, said they felt \"abandoned\" and criticised Europe's alleged silence on the matter. \n\nIt is now 12 days that the boat has been stranded with around 150 migrants onboard near the Italian island of Lampedusa. \n\nItaly and Malta have refused to take it in. \n\nAnother boat, \"Ocean Viking\", operated by Doctors Without Borders (MSF) and SOS M\u00e9diterran\u00e9e, is stranded off the coast of Libya with around 356 migrants. \n\n\nEuronews spoke to\u00a0Sam Turner, head of mission for search and rescue at MSF, who ruled out taking the migrants to Libya.\u00a0 \n\n\u201cLibya is currently an active conflict zone, with fighting still raging in and around Tripoli albeit with a tentative ceasefire in the last few days,\" he said.\u00a0 \n\n\u201cThe situation for migrants as they travel through Libya is one that is clearly, persistently experiencing horrific circumstances be it at the hands of criminal groups such as traffickers where we do hear reports of torture but also in the detention centres themselves, where the conditions are inhumane and the nature of that detention is indiscriminate, indefinite and arbitrary.\u201d \n\nSam Turner added migrants in Libya had been left with \u201climited options\u201d to safely travel to the EU or elsewhere to claim asylum.\u00a0 \n\n\nWatch the full interview with Sam Turner in the video player, above. \n\n","htmlText":"<p>The number of migrants stranded in the Mediterranean Sea has risen to more than 500.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Open Arms, the Spanish NGO operating one of the vessels, said they felt \"abandoned\" and criticised Europe's alleged silence on the matter.<\/p>\n<p>It is now 12 days that the boat has been stranded with around 150 migrants onboard near the Italian island of Lampedusa.<\/p>\n<p>Italy and Malta have refused to take it in.<\/p>\n<p>Another boat, \"Ocean Viking\", operated by Doctors Without Borders (MSF) and SOS M\u00e9diterran\u00e9e, is stranded off the coast of Libya with around 356 migrants. <\/p>\n<p>Euronews spoke to\u00a0Sam Turner, head of mission for search and rescue at MSF, who ruled out taking the migrants to Libya.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLibya is currently an active conflict zone, with fighting still raging in and around Tripoli albeit with a tentative ceasefire in the last few days,\" he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe situation for migrants as they travel through Libya is one that is clearly, persistently experiencing horrific circumstances be it at the hands of criminal groups such as traffickers where we do hear reports of torture but also in the detention centres themselves, where the conditions are inhumane and the nature of that detention is indiscriminate, indefinite and arbitrary.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sam Turner added migrants in Libya had been left with \u201climited options\u201d to safely travel to the EU or elsewhere to claim asylum.\u00a0 <\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Watch the full interview with Sam Turner in the video player, above.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","hashtag":null,"createdAt":1565694145,"updatedAt":1723539856,"publishedAt":1565723346,"firstPublishedAt":1565723348,"lastPublishedAt":1565723348,"expiresAt":0,"images":[{"url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/08\/87\/34\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_a3f9429b-feb2-5a65-86ca-ce1b9488e14a-4088734.jpg","altText":null,"caption":null,"captionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"Hannah Wallace Bowman MSF","sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"callToActionText":null,"width":1920,"height":1080}],"authors":{"journalists":[{"id":1908,"urlSafeValue":"macey","title":"Joseph Macey","twitter":null}],"producers":[{"id":1908,"urlSafeValue":"macey","title":"Joseph Macey","twitter":null}],"videoEditor":[{"id":1908,"urlSafeValue":"macey","title":"Joseph Macey","twitter":null}]},"keywords":[{"id":13190,"slug":"migrants","urlSafeValue":"migrants","title":"Migrants","titleRaw":"Migrants"},{"id":20840,"slug":"sea-rescue","urlSafeValue":"sea-rescue","title":"sea rescue","titleRaw":"sea rescue"},{"id":8151,"slug":"refugees","urlSafeValue":"refugees","title":"Refugees","titleRaw":"Refugees"}],"widgets":[],"related":[{"id":830934},{"id":724556},{"id":827076}],"technicalTags":[],"externalPartners":{"youtubeId":"TwIV0auJ5ao","dailymotionId":"x7fxtxa"},"hasExternalVideo":1,"hasInternalOrExternalVideo":1,"video":1,"videos":[{"format":"mp4","quality":"md","type":"normal","url":"https:\/\/video.euronews.com\/mp4\/med\/EN\/NW\/SU\/19\/08\/13\/en\/190813_NWSU_8798857_8798861_214240_145730_en.mp4","editor":"","duration":214240,"filesizeBytes":21180037,"expiresAt":0}],"liveStream":[{"startDate":0,"endDate":0}],"scribbleLiveId":0,"scribbleLiveRibbon":0,"isLiveCoverage":0,"sourceId":1,"sources":[],"externalSource":null,"additionalSources":null,"additionalReporting":null,"freeField1":null,"freeField2":"","type":"normal","displayType":"default","program":{"id":"world","urlSafeValue":"world","title":"World 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MIGRANTS","daletPyramidId":null,"channels":[{"id":1},{"id":2},{"id":4},{"id":5},{"id":12}],"status":2,"title":"Dozens of bodies of migrants who perished in the Mediterranean wash up on Libya's shoreline","titleSeo":null,"titleListing1":"Dead migrants wash up on Libya's coast after 'worst tragedy' of year","titleListing2":"Dozens of bodies of migrants who perished in the Mediterranean wash up on Libya's shoreline","leadin":"Around 150 African refugees and migrants perished off the Libyan coast on Thursday, in their apparent attempt to reach Europe.","summary":"Around 150 African refugees and migrants perished off the Libyan coast on Thursday, in their apparent attempt to reach Europe.","keySentence":"","url":"dozens-of-bodies-of-migrants-who-perished-in-the-mediterranean-wash-up-on-libya-s-shorelin","canonical":"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/2019\/07\/27\/dozens-of-bodies-of-migrants-who-perished-in-the-mediterranean-wash-up-on-libya-s-shorelin","masterCms":"v2","plainText":"UNHCR, the UN's refugee agency, called it \"the worst Mediterranean tragedy\" so far this year. \n\nAround 150 African migrants died off the Libyan coast on Thursday, in their apparent bid to reach Europe. \n\nNow their bodies are washing up on nearby beaches.\u00a0 \n\nThe Libyan Red Crescent recovered more than 60 bodies on Friday and the country's coastguard has retrieved dozens more.\u00a0 \n\n\"There were 300 of us in the boat and then water came in,\" said one of the survivors,\u00a0 Eritrean Abdallah Ahmed Abdallah, in a television interview. \"One hundred people were rescued but the rest all died. The women, children and girls all died. Glory to God, we started swimming for almost seven hours and then we were rescued by fishermen.\" \n\nRead more:\u00a0'Unimaginable': Mediterranean shipwreck survivors 'sent to bombed Libyan detention centre' \n\nThe Libyan Red Crescent said the wooden boat sank north of the coastal city of Khoms. It had been carrying up to 350 migrants, mostly from Eritrea, Egypt, Sudan and Libya. \n\n\nAbdallah and the other survivors remain in a desperate predicament, still stuck in a dangerous and conflict-haunted country. \n\nOn Friday UNHCR said 84 survivors were taken to Tajoura detention centre. \n\nIt lies near the frontline of Libya's deadly civil war where at least 50 people were killed and more than 100 wounded by an airstrike at the beginning of this month. \n\n\nIt's not clear if Abdallah was taken to Tajoura detention centre after he talked to the TV crew. Earlier, when they interviewed him, his group were resting in the shade in a dirty, litter-strewn compound of empty, neglected buildings. \n\n\n\"We have been here for two days and no one has come to get us. There has been a dead body here with us for the past two days,\" he said, gesturing to where it lay. \n\n\"Glory to God, it is like we were fighting death in the sea, and now we are fighting death on the ground.\" \n\n","htmlText":"<p>UNHCR, the UN's refugee agency, called it \"the worst Mediterranean tragedy\" so far this year.<\/p>\n<p>Around 150 African migrants died off the Libyan coast on Thursday, in their apparent bid to reach Europe.<\/p>\n<p>Now their bodies are washing up on nearby beaches.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The Libyan Red Crescent recovered more than 60 bodies on Friday and the country's coastguard has retrieved dozens more.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\"There were 300 of us in the boat and then water came in,\" said one of the survivors,\u00a0 Eritrean Abdallah Ahmed Abdallah, in a television interview. \"One hundred people were rescued but the rest all died. The women, children and girls all died. Glory to God, we started swimming for almost seven hours and then we were rescued by fishermen.\"<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.euronews.com//2019//07//26//unimaginable-mediterranean-shipwreck-survivors-sent-to-bombed-libyan-detention-centre/">Read more:\u00a0'Unimaginable': Mediterranean shipwreck survivors 'sent to bombed Libyan detention centre'<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Libyan Red Crescent said the wooden boat sank north of the coastal city of Khoms. It had been carrying up to 350 migrants, mostly from Eritrea, Egypt, Sudan and Libya. <\/p>\n<p>Abdallah and the other survivors remain in a desperate predicament, still stuck in a dangerous and conflict-haunted country.<\/p>\n<p>On Friday UNHCR said 84 survivors were taken to Tajoura detention centre.<\/p>\n<p>It lies near the frontline of Libya's deadly civil war where at least 50 people were killed and more than 100 wounded by an airstrike at the beginning of this month. <\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-tweet widget--size-fullwidth widget--align-center\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio\u2014auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <figure class=\"widget__figure\">\n <div class=\"widget__tweet\" data-tweet-id=\"1154641931143659520\"><\/div>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<p>It's not clear if Abdallah was taken to Tajoura detention centre after he talked to the TV crew. Earlier, when they interviewed him, his group were resting in the shade in a dirty, litter-strewn compound of empty, neglected buildings. <\/p>\n<p>\"We have been here for two days and no one has come to get us. There has been a dead body here with us for the past two days,\" he said, gesturing to where it lay.<\/p>\n<p>\"Glory to God, it is like we were fighting death in the sea, and now we are fighting death on the ground.\"<\/p>\n","hashtag":null,"createdAt":1564176884,"updatedAt":1723539856,"publishedAt":1564231757,"firstPublishedAt":1564231759,"lastPublishedAt":1564231759,"expiresAt":0,"images":[{"url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/05\/87\/86\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_34b356d6-d148-532d-8665-8ae93dc34c18-4058786.jpg","altText":null,"caption":null,"captionUrl":null,"captionCredit":null,"sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"callToActionText":null,"width":1920,"height":1080}],"authors":{"journalists":[{"id":1074,"urlSafeValue":"bellamy","title":"Daniel Bellamy","twitter":"danbel"}],"producers":[],"videoEditor":[]},"keywords":[{"id":12102,"slug":"migrant-crisis","urlSafeValue":"migrant-crisis","title":"Migrant Crisis","titleRaw":"Migrant 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SHIPWRECK SURVIVORS SENT TO TAJOURA CENTRE","daletPyramidId":null,"channels":[{"id":1},{"id":2},{"id":4},{"id":5},{"id":12}],"status":2,"title":"'Unimaginable': Mediterranean shipwreck survivors 'sent to bombed Libyan detention centre'","titleSeo":null,"titleListing1":"Migrant shipwreck survivors 'sent to bombed Libyan detention centre'","titleListing2":"'Unimaginable': Mediterranean shipwreck survivors 'sent to bombed Libyan detention centre'","leadin":"Most of the survivors of the worst Mediterranean shipwreck so far this year have been transferred to a Libyan detention centre that was hit by a deadly airstrike this month, according to the UN refugee agency.","summary":"Most of the survivors of the worst Mediterranean shipwreck so far this year have been transferred to a Libyan detention centre that was hit by a deadly airstrike this month, according to the UN refugee agency.","keySentence":"","url":"unimaginable-mediterranean-shipwreck-survivors-sent-to-bombed-libyan-detention-centre","canonical":"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/2019\/07\/26\/unimaginable-mediterranean-shipwreck-survivors-sent-to-bombed-libyan-detention-centre","masterCms":"v2","plainText":"Most of the survivors of the worst Mediterranean shipwreck so far this year have been transferred to a Libyan detention centre that was hit by a deadly airstrike this month, according to the UN refugee agency. \n\nThe UNHCR says it's concerned about their safety and is calling for their release. Medecins Sans Frontieres told Euronews the move was \"unimaginable\". \n\nUp to 150 men, women and children are feared to have died on Thursday after a wooden boat capsized off the coast of Libya. More than 130 people were rescued by the Libyan coast guard and brought back to the mainland, near Tripoli. \n\nThe UNHCR says 84 of those survivors have now been taken to Tajoura detention centre, a centre near the frontline of Libya's deadly civil war where at least 50 people were killed and more than 100 wounded by an airstrike at the beginning of this month. \n\n\"The mere idea of sending these people, who have experienced such a traumatic experience, to detention centres\u00a0\u2014 and to a detention centre that we know has been subjected to an airstrike\u00a0\u2014 is just unimaginable,\" MSF Humanitarian Affairs Adviser Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui said in an interview on Euronews Now. \n\nMSF's teams were at Libyan disembarkation points where the survivors of Thursday's shipwreck landed, to provide them with medical care and psychological support. \"People are really shocked, as you can imagine. Some of them lost family members,\" Sahraoui said. \n\nMSF also used to regularly provide healthcare services in Tajoura detention centre, including on the day it was hit by an airstrike. Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui said the July 2 attack was the second to target the centre and that the building should now be evacuated, not taking in more people. \n\n\"Libya is not a safe port of disembarkation, and the Italian authorities know very well that it's not a safe port of disembarkation: there's an ongoing conflict raging in the country, the conditions of detention are disastrous,\" she said. \n\n\"It makes me angry that in spite of everything that's happening, in spite of the attack on Tajoura, in spite of ongoing the conflict, you'd have politicians still pretend that Libya is a place of safety,\" she said. \n\nYou can watch the full interview in the video player, above. \n\n","htmlText":"<p>Most of the survivors of the worst Mediterranean shipwreck so far this year have been transferred to a Libyan detention centre that was hit by a deadly airstrike this month, according to the UN refugee agency.<\/p>\n<p>The UNHCR says it's concerned about their safety and is calling for their release. Medecins Sans Frontieres told Euronews the move was \"unimaginable\".<\/p>\n<p>Up to 150 men, women and children are feared to have died on Thursday after a wooden boat capsized off the coast of Libya. More than 130 people were rescued by the Libyan coast guard and brought back to the mainland, near Tripoli.<\/p>\n<p>The UNHCR says 84 of those survivors have now been taken to Tajoura detention centre, a centre near the frontline of Libya's deadly civil war where at least 50 people were killed and more than 100 wounded by an airstrike at the beginning of this month.<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-tweet widget--size-fullwidth widget--align-center\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio\u2014auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <figure class=\"widget__figure\">\n <div class=\"widget__tweet\" data-tweet-id=\"1154641931143659520\"><\/div>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<p>\"The mere idea of sending these people, who have experienced such a traumatic experience, to detention centres\u00a0\u2014 and to a detention centre that we know has been subjected to an airstrike\u00a0\u2014 is just unimaginable,\" MSF Humanitarian Affairs Adviser Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui said in an interview on Euronews Now.<\/p>\n<p>MSF's teams were at Libyan disembarkation points where the survivors of Thursday's shipwreck landed, to provide them with medical care and psychological support. \"People are really shocked, as you can imagine. Some of them lost family members,\" Sahraoui said.<\/p>\n<p>MSF also used to regularly provide healthcare services in Tajoura detention centre, including on the day it was hit by an airstrike. Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui said the July 2 attack was the second to target the centre and that the building should now be evacuated, not taking in more people.<\/p>\n<p>\"Libya is not a safe port of disembarkation, and the Italian authorities know very well that it's not a safe port of disembarkation: there's an ongoing conflict raging in the country, the conditions of detention are disastrous,\" she said.<\/p>\n<p>\"It makes me angry that in spite of everything that's happening, in spite of the attack on Tajoura, in spite of ongoing the conflict, you'd have politicians still pretend that Libya is a place of safety,\" she said.<\/p>\n<p><strong>You can watch the full interview in the video player, above.<\/strong><\/p>\n","hashtag":null,"createdAt":1564155267,"updatedAt":1723539856,"publishedAt":1564158152,"firstPublishedAt":1564158154,"lastPublishedAt":1564158154,"expiresAt":0,"images":[{"url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/05\/77\/52\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_2c1d946f-48a6-5dfe-832c-4c99dcacada0-4057752.jpg","altText":null,"caption":null,"captionUrl":null,"captionCredit":null,"sourceUrl":null,"sourceCredit":null,"callToActionUrl":null,"callToActionText":null,"width":1920,"height":1080}],"authors":{"journalists":[{"id":811,"urlSafeValue":"huet-n","title":"Natalie Huet","twitter":"@nataliehuet"}],"producers":[],"videoEditor":[]},"keywords":[{"id":13190,"slug":"migrants","urlSafeValue":"migrants","title":"Migrants","titleRaw":"Migrants"},{"id":172,"slug":"libya","urlSafeValue":"libya","title":"Libya","titleRaw":"Libya"},{"id":13414,"slug":"mediterranean-sea","urlSafeValue":"mediterranean-sea","title":"Mediterranean Sea","titleRaw":"Mediterranean 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SHIPWRECK 150 FEARED DEAD","daletPyramidId":null,"channels":[{"id":1},{"id":2},{"id":4},{"id":5},{"id":12}],"status":2,"title":"More than 100 migrants feared dead in 'worst Mediterranean tragedy this year'","titleSeo":null,"titleListing1":"Scores of migrants feared dead in 'worst tragedy' this year","titleListing2":"More than 100 migrants feared dead in 'worst Mediterranean tragedy this year'","leadin":"More than 100 migrants are missing and feared drowned after a wooden boat capsized off the coast of Libya.","summary":"More than 100 migrants are missing and feared drowned after a wooden boat capsized off the coast of Libya.","keySentence":"","url":"more-than-100-migrants-feared-dead-in-worst-mediterranean-tragedy-this-year","canonical":"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/2019\/07\/25\/more-than-100-migrants-feared-dead-in-worst-mediterranean-tragedy-this-year","masterCms":"v2","plainText":"More than 100 migrants are missing and feared drowned after a wooden boat capsized off the coast of Libya. \n\nUp to 115 people are missing and 134 were rescued, Libyan navy spokesman Ayoub Qassem said on Thursday. \n\nThe UN's refugee agency said earlier that up to 150 people are feared drowned. \n\nThe ship left Libya from Al Khoms, a town 120 kilometres east of the capital, Tripoli. There were around 250 people travelling on board, according to the first available accounts from survivors, but it was unclear if one or two vessels were involved. \n\nFilippo Grandi, the UN high commissioner for refugee described it as the \"worst Mediterranean tragedy of this year\". \n\nHe also reiterated his call for migrants rescued at sea not to be returned to Libya where they are kept in detention centres and made even more vulnerable to the volatile political situation in the north African country. \n\nBut the Libyan coast guard returned at least 84 migrants to the Tajoura detention centre last night, according to a tweet from a UNHCR spokesperson. \n\nThis is the same detention centre that suffered an airstrike earlier this month that killed at least 50 people and injured 130. \n\nUN Secretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres said that he was \"horrified\" by the reports. \n\n\"We need safe, legal routes for migrants and refugees,\" he tweeted. \n\nEarlier in the week, the UNHCR and International Organisation for Migration (IOM) had met with European states to discuss the situation in the Mediterranean and called for preventing loss of life in Libya. \n\n\"The status quo, where search and rescue operations are often left to NGO or commercial vessels, cannot continue,\" the UN refugee agency's statement read after the meeting. \n\nLibya is a hub for migrants departing for Europe \u2014 up to 90% of people crossing the Mediterranean depart from the country. \n\nThe UNHCR estimates that 34,196 people have risked their lives trying to reach Europe by sea in 2019 so far. \n\nREAD MORE: 'They sprayed the room with bullets': migrants in Libyan detention centres living in fear \n\nWant more news? \n\n","htmlText":"<p>More than 100 migrants are missing and feared drowned after a wooden boat capsized off the coast of Libya.<\/p>\n<p>Up to 115 people are missing and 134 were rescued, Libyan navy spokesman Ayoub Qassem said on Thursday.<\/p>\n<p>The UN's refugee agency said earlier that up to 150 people are feared drowned.<\/p>\n<p>The ship left Libya from Al Khoms, a town 120 kilometres east of the capital, Tripoli. There were around 250 people travelling on board, according to the first available accounts from survivors, but it was unclear if one or two vessels were involved.<\/p>\n<p>Filippo Grandi, the UN high commissioner for refugee described it as the \"worst Mediterranean tragedy of this year\".<\/p>\n<p>He also reiterated his call for migrants rescued at sea not to be returned to Libya where they are kept in detention centres and made even more vulnerable to the volatile political situation in the north African country.<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-tweet widget--size-fullwidth widget--align-center\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio\u2014auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <figure class=\"widget__figure\">\n <div class=\"widget__tweet\" data-tweet-id=\"1154397393980416000\"><\/div>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<p>But the Libyan coast guard returned at least 84 migrants to the Tajoura detention centre last night, according to a tweet from a UNHCR spokesperson.<\/p>\n<p>This is the same detention centre that suffered an airstrike earlier this month that killed at least 50 people and injured 130.<\/p>\n<p>UN Secretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres said that he was \"horrified\" by the reports.<\/p>\n<p>\"We need safe, legal routes for migrants and refugees,\" he tweeted.<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-tweet widget--size-fullwidth widget--align-center\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio\u2014auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <figure class=\"widget__figure\">\n <div class=\"widget__tweet\" data-tweet-id=\"1154515418469621765\"><\/div>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<p>Earlier in the week, the UNHCR and International Organisation for Migration (IOM) had met with European states to discuss the situation in the Mediterranean and called for preventing loss of life in Libya.<\/p>\n<p>\"The status quo, where search and rescue operations are often left to NGO or commercial vessels, cannot continue,\" the UN refugee agency's statement read after the meeting.<\/p>\n<!-- oovvuu widget is now deprecated -->\n<p>Libya is a hub for migrants departing for Europe \u2014 up to 90% of people crossing the Mediterranean depart from the country.<\/p>\n<p>The UNHCR estimates that 34,196 people have risked their lives trying to reach Europe by sea in 2019 so far.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////www.euronews.com//2019//05//20//they-sprayed-the-room-with-bullets-migrants-in-libyan-detention-centres-living-in-fear/">READ MORE: 'They sprayed the room with bullets': migrants in Libyan detention centres living in fear<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<!-- oovvuu widget is now deprecated -->\n<h2>Want more news?<\/h2>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-freeform\nwidget--size-fullwidth\nwidget--align-center\">\n <div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n <div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio--auto\">\n <div class=\"widget__contents\">\n <iframe src=https://www.euronews.com/"https:////wb.messengerpeople.com//?widget_hash=3638143e4a3b4fbd5787ac11bc1b3c6d&lang=en&wn=0\%22 width=\"80%\" height=\"300px\" style=\"border:0;\" data-iframe-tracking=\"whatsapp\"><\/iframe> \n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n","hashtag":null,"createdAt":1564064604,"updatedAt":1723539856,"publishedAt":1564066918,"firstPublishedAt":1564066920,"lastPublishedAt":1564131197,"expiresAt":0,"images":[{"url":"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/04\/00\/39\/70\/{{w}}x{{h}}_cmsv2_575fc491-dee9-5dc3-916b-f1d863a768ed-4003970.jpg","altText":"A blue inflatable boat that was carrying 65 people, is seen in this picture obtained from social media on July 5, 2019.","caption":"A blue inflatable boat that was carrying 65 people, is seen in this picture obtained from social media on July 5, 2019.","captionUrl":null,"captionCredit":"Courtesy of Sea-eye\/Social Media via 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