UN calls for resumption of refugee rescues in the Mediterranean
The United Nations has called on European countries to resume search and rescue operations for migrants in the Mediterranean Sea. The UNHCR has called the situation in Libya “dangerous” and called for a halt to the return of migrants to the country.
The UN says the "indefensible" situation of migrants and refugees in Libya should force European countries to reconsider their policies.
According to the German news agency, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, and the head of the Refugee Protection Agency, Antonio Vitorino, in a joint statement called on European countries to resume search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean Sea, which have been suspended.
The statement, which was released in Geneva on Thursday night (July 11th), called on European countries to rescue migrants and refugees stranded in the Mediterranean Sea and transfer them to safe ports.
The two organizations emphasize that the expansion of shelters and reception centers for migrants and asylum seekers who have reached Libya is urgently needed.
Grandi and Torino have called the situation in Libya dangerous and have called for a halt to the return of refugees rescued in the Mediterranean to the country. They say the deaths of dozens of refugees in a camp east of Tripoli last week following an airstrike must not be allowed to happen again.
The eastern areas of Tripoli have been the scene of bloody clashes between government forces and attackers since the beginning of the offensive by the Libyan National Army, led by General Khalifa Haftar, towards the Libyan capital.
One million and 300 thousand refugees and asylum seekers in Libya
According to statistics from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, there are currently 1.3 million migrants and asylum seekers in Libya, with the names and details of about half a million of them registered.
Some of these people are those who have taken refuge in Libya to escape persecution, violence and persecution, while others intend to migrate through the country. In their joint statement, Grandi and Vitorino stressed that these people must be better protected so that they do not fall into the hands of human traffickers.
The Italian government announced a few days ago that it had reached an agreement with Libya's "government of national unity" to strengthen the country's coast guard to combat human traffickers.
The agreement will see the Libyan coast guard equipped to prevent the smuggling of migrants and refugees to European countries across the Mediterranean Sea. The move has drawn widespread criticism, with international monitors describing the conditions in which migrants are held in Libya as “inhumane.”
