NATIONAL SECURITY ISSUES
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Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said yesterday that it had rescued 440 migrants from an overcrowded fishing boat in international waters off the coast of Malta, after trying to carry out the rescue for more than 11 hours The organisation said its ship, the GeoBarents, had struggled with the rescue due to bad weather, explaining that at first it could do nothing but throw life jackets to the migrants.
- The European Union’s Naval Force in the Mediterranean, which is known as Operation IRINI (EUNAVFOR MED IRINI), has investigated 311 merchant vessels and monitored 15 suspicious flights in March this year, announced the European mission on Tuesday. In its monthly report, the naval mission also stated Turkey has refused consent to board and inspect its suspicious vessels on ten occasions so far (one more since December 2022).
- Italy’s Coast Guard said on Monday it was forced to use a helicopter to rescue 32 migrants, including a child, who had been stranded on a desert island in the central Mediterranean since the previous say. Picking the migrants from the islet of Lampione, part of the same archipelago as Lampedusa island, proved impossible via sea due to “particularly adverse” sea and weather conditions, the Coast Guard said in a statement. The helicopter took the migrants to Lampedusa, the usual landing spot for sea migrants who set off from Tunisia and Libya, making several trips amid winds of up to 50 knots, the statement added.
- The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said Monday 344 migrants were intercepted and returned to Libya in the past week. “In the period of 26 March – 1 April 2023, 344 migrants were intercepted and returned to Libya.,” IOM said in a statement via Twitter. So far this year, a total of 4,241 migrants were intercepted and returned to Libya, mostly men including 205 women and 109 children. 269 migrants died and 172 others went missing off the Libyan coast during the same period, IOM revealed.
NATIONAL POLITICS AND SOCIAL ISSUES
- The first round of presidential and parliamentary elections in Libya will take place by the end of this year, announced the High National Election Commission (HNEC). This would be followed by a second round in the first months of 2024, said HNEC chairman, Emad Al-Sayeh, in an interview with Al-Sabah newspaper.
- Muhammad Al-Menfi, President of the Presidential Council, has stressed the necessity of continuing the ceasefire and raising awareness of the dangers of mines for Libya to achieve stability and security. In his statement on the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action, Al-Menfi pledged solidarity with the families of victims of explosive remnants of war.
- The US envoy to Libya, Ambassador Richard Norland, announced his rejection of any electoral process that “increases instability” in Libya, emphasizing the need to settle the ongoing dispute over the candidacy conditions. In an interview with Al Arabiya Al Hadath news channel on Monday, Norland renewed his confirmation of the United States’ support for the efforts of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya, Abdoulaye Bathily, to hold elections during 2023.
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
- Tunisian Director of Social Affairs in Tataouine, Monir Al-Kharbi, confirmed that food aid from Libya has arrived at the Social Solidarity stores in Tunisia, according to Tunisian radio station Mosaïque. Al-Kharbi explained that the aid is expected to be distributed to 6,000 low-income families in several districts next week. The aid includes sugar, oil, flour, and rice, which were sent by the National Unity Government “to show solidarity in the economic crisis that Tunisia is going through.”
- The 5+5 Joint Military Commission (JMC) held a meeting in Benghazi, attended by military and security leaders from the western, eastern, and southern regions. According to a statement from UNSMI, the aim of the meeting was to enhance confidence among these leaders to support the political process and create an environment conducive to holding free and fair elections in 2023, and for all parties to accept the results of the elections.
- The secretary general of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Jassim Mohammed al Budaiwi, has invited all parties involved in the Libyan crisis to dialogue, during a meeting at the headquarters of the general secretariat in Riyadh with the charge d’affaires of the Libyan Embassy in Saudi Arabia, Fateh Bashaina.
- Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, the General Commander of the Libyan National Army (LNA), held talks owith Speaker of the House of Representatives Aguila Saleh and U.N. Special Envoy Abdoulaye Bathily. According to a brief statement by LNA’s General Command, the three men discussed the latest political developments in Libya.
