Migrants to flee Libya

TRIPOLI: Humanitarian agencies are making desperate efforts to evacuate over 1 300 vulnerable refugees stranded in Libya, the North African country at the centre of an emerging slave trade scandal.

Among the agencies is the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which is seeking resettlement places to be made available by the end of March.

The urgent appeal comes as many refugees, asylum seekers and stateless persons in Libya are victims of serious violations of human rights, including different forms of inhumane, cruel and degrading treatment as well as being traded in open markets as slaves.

“This is a desperate call for solidarity and humanity. We need to get extremely vulnerable refugees out of Libya as soon as possible,” said Volker Türk, UNHCR’s assistant high commissioner for protection.

Given the imminent humanitarian needs and the rapidly deteriorating conditions in detention centres in Libya, the UNHCR is actively working to organise more life-saving refugee evacuations to Niger in the coming weeks and months.

A first group of 25 refugees of Eritrean, Ethiopian and Sudanese nationalities were evacuated from Libya to Niger last month.

They include unaccompanied children, single mothers, women at risk, people with serious medical conditions as well as those who have been severely tortured or ill-treated during their journey, or in detention in Libya.

Türk also called upon the solidarity of the international community to alleviate the plight of illegal African migrants.

Conflict-torn Libya is hosting thousands of migrants who are illegally in the North Africa country hopeful of reaching Europe by boat.