AYS Daily Digest 13/01/20 — Weekend Exodus from Libya as Violence Escalates
By: Are You Syrious
Tags: Digest, Greece, Human Rights, Refugees, Libya

Seawatch 3, with 119 People On Board, Denied Port of Safety///Greek Government Lost on Humanitarian Policy///French Strikes Hurting People on the Move

People who were detained in Abu Salim protest the murder of two of their own Credit: Sally Hayden

Feature: Violence in Libya Causes Mass Exodus, Protests Over the Murder of Two Eritreans

About 1,150 people tried to escape from Libya between January 9th and January 12th, according to a press release published on Monday by AlarmPhone. 503 people were able to reach Europe, either independently or with the help of NGOs or the Maltese Coast Guard. Unfortunately, about 700 people were pushed back to Libya by the Libyan coast guard.

This number only includes people who were able to reach AlarmPhone and ask for help. There was at least one case of a privatized pushback that ended in the Libyan Coastguard killing one person who resisted return to Libya. The Mediterranean is vast and dangerous, there could be other cases of people risking it all to reach Europe that we do not know about.

Cases of Libyans, as well as people from other countries who are being detained in Libya, fleeing to Europe will likely increase because violence has escalated even further in the past few days.

Peace talks are currently happening in Moscow, but the prospects for achiveing real peace are slim since the last truce, declared on Sunday, only lasted a few hours. Germany has already announced it will hold another summit on the 19th to continue peace talks. Even if a deal is reached, it is not likely that any of the governments involved will think about the safety of people on the move. The EU still has agreements with the Libyan ‘coast guard’ thereby intently supporting pushbacks to Libya during an active civil war and, even as Western aid workers are evacuated and Tripoli is shelled.

The international community has long ignored the needs of people detained in Libya, which ended in tragedy yet again when two Eritreans were killed over the weekend. In a press release, the UNHCR of course said that it was “deeply saddened” and that circumstances around the killings were “unclear.”

However, people who knew the two men place the blame at the UNHCR’s door. Although it is not confirmed, the two were allegedly searching for food in the city of Tripoli when they were shot by Libyans trying to rob them. The UNHCR explained that the two men were living outside of Gathering & Detention Facilities because they accepted an “urban package of assistance,” or financial incentive to live in the city of Tripoli instead of in a GDF. Their friends deny this narrative and say that the men were forced to live in the city because of the UN’s deliberate starvation policy. Had the men been granted asylum in a timely manner, or given food and shelter in a humanely-run camp, they likely would still be alive today.

Their friends and acquaintances, former Abu Salim detainees as well, organized a vigil to remember their lives and protest the international indifference that killed them. Video of the protest can be found here.