UNHCR: TRIPOLI FACILITIES READY TO HELP

UN opens refugee centre in Libyan capital for thousands fleeing militia fighting

THE United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) on Saturday recommended that thousands of refugees who escaped from detention centres amid clashes between militia in Tripoli be directed to a facility in the capital to help them to safety.

The UNHCR recommended “the immediate use of the Gathering and Departure Facility in Tripoli, which will serve as a platform to find safety in third countries”.

The facilities were ready to use and could host 1,000 vulnerable refugees and asylum seekers, and was to be managed by the Interior Ministry and UNHCR, the agency said in a statement.

Recent fighting pitted two of the capital’s largest armed groups — the Tripoli Revolutionaries’ Brigades and the Nawasi — against the Seventh Brigade from Tarhouna, a town 65km southeast of Tripoli.

Refugees and asylum seekers in the city were exposed to atrocities including rape, kidnapping and torture, the UNHCR said.

One woman said criminals had kidnapped her husband and then raped her and tortured her 1year-old baby, the agency said.

It also said the detention centres from which the refugees fled remained at risk of being hit by rockets.

Conflicts among militias has divided Libya since an uprising forced leader Muammar Gaddafi from power seven years ago.

UNHCR also called for action to hold smugglers and traffickers accountable after receiving “reliable reports” that they impersonate its staff at disembarkation platforms and migrant hubs.

“UNHCR information comes from refugees who report having been sold to traffickers in Libya, and subjected to abuse and torture, including after having been intercepted at sea,” it said, adding that investigations of these allegations were ongoing.