NATIONAL SECURITY ISSUES
- International Organization for Migration (IOM) Libya’s Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) program identified a total of 706,369 migrants from 45 nationalities in the 100 Libyan municipalities during round 50 of data collection (October – December 2023), according to IOM.
- A group of 27 illegal migrants were intercepted and stopped by the Libyan authorities in a deserted area south of the Jabal al Akhdar, in the eastern part of the country. This was announced by Libya’s east branch of the Department to Combat Illegal Migration (DCIM), explaining that the 27 migrants arrested were of different nationalities. Among them, 10 Egyptians suffering from hepatitis were repatriated.
- The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Monday that 74 migrants were intercepted off the coast of Libya last week. “From 11 to 17 February 2024, 74 migrants were intercepted and returned to Libya.,” IOM said in a statement.
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More than 80 migrants were saved, but two died and three were missing following two sea rescue operations in the Mediterranean off the coast of Libya, said Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). The non-governmental organization, also known as Doctors Without Borders, said its rescue vessel Geo Barents picked up over 60 people late on Saturday, including unaccompanied children, from a rubber dinghy in distress in international waters off Libya. It also recovered one body, and one of the migrants taken on board died shortly after the rescue.
NATIONAL POLITICS AND SOCIAL ISSUES
- The salaries of Petroleum Facilities Guard in Libya will be revised in accordance with the salary plan provided for security employees, according to a decision approved on Sunday by the Prime Minister of the Government of National Unity, Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh.
- Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, commander of the Libyan National Army (LNA), held talks with tribal leaders from the Al-Butnan region in eastern Libya. The meeting, held at the LNA’s headquarters in Benghazi, focused on security coordination and stabilizing areas under the LNA’s control, according to an LNA statement.
- Tripoli, Libya – Libya’s public prosecution has ordered the arrest and detention of those responsible for the Abu Salim massacre that left 10 people dead. The prosecutor’s office statement did not identify any suspects. The attorney general’s office said it acted after receiving a report that 10 people gathered at a house in the Abu Salim area were killed for various reasons. Investigators inspected the crime scene, documented observations, gathered evidence, and examined the victims’ bodies.
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
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The Chairman of Libya’s Presidential Council, Mohammed Menfi, met with the President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, in Addis Ababa. The meeting focused on bilateral relations, the return of the Brazilian embassy and companies to Libya, and strengthening Brazilian-African relations. They also coordinated on regional and international issues of mutual interest and agreed to welcome a Brazilian ministerial delegation to Tripoli shortly.