NATIONAL SECURITY ISSUES
- The bodies of 17 migrants, who boat capsized in Mediterranean Sea, were recovered on Saturday by the Libyan Red Crescent off the coast of Sabratah, according to the Libyan Red Crescent. In a brief statement via Twitter and Facebook, the association said its team transported the bodies to their “designated places” in the presence of the local authorities.
- The civil rescue ship Humanity 1 operated by the non-governmental organization SOS Humanity was navigating to the Emilia Romagna port city of Ravenna on Thursday after rescuing 69 migrants and refugees from a small rubber dinghy adrift in the central Mediterranean off the coast of Libya on Wednesday night. The group reportedly includes 15 unaccompanied minors.
- Recent developments in Sudan have significant implications for Libya, according to Italian expert Guido Lenfranqui. The armed crisis in Sudan was expected given the precarious balance between the military formations. There is a danger that regional tensions could escalate and worsen the situation. Lenfranqui, a researcher specializing in African affairs at the Netherlands Institute of International Relations, Clingendael, said that clashes in Sudan these days are the result of ongoing competition that has escalated in recent months.
- The security unrest in Sudan will “negatively affect the security of Libya’s southern borders,” warned Libyan member of parliament Saeed Amgheib. In a statement via Facebook, Amgheib, who represents Kufra district, the situation in the neighboring country is the natural result of “mercenaries and traitors” who possess weapons and money outside the framework of the military establishment.
- The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said Monday 6 migrants were intercepted and returned to Libya in the past week. “In the period of 9 April – 15 April 2023, 6 migrants were intercepted and returned to Libya.,” IOM said in a statement via Twitter. So far this year, a total of 4,247 migrants were intercepted and returned to Libya, mostly men including 205 women and 109 children. 300 migrants died and 218 others went missing off the Libyan coast during the same period, IOM revealed.
NATIONAL POLITICS AND SOCIAL ISSUES
- UN Deputy Envoy to Libya Raisedon Zenenga discussed Monday Envoy Abdoulaye Bathily’s comprehensive approach to enable elections with a group of the Libyan Parliament members from Tripoli, Benghazi, Murzuq and Warshafana, according to UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL). Reiterating UNSMIL’s offer of technical support to the 6+6 committee of the Parliament and the State Council, DSRSG Zenenga highlighted the importance of completing the electoral laws in time for elections to take place this year, in line with the demands of the Libyan people, UNSMIL said in a statement.
- The Head of Libya’s High National Election Commission (HNEC), Emad al-Sayeh, said the country’s presidential and parliamentary elections “will be simultaneous”. In statements to the press reported by the newspaper Al-Saa 24, al-Sayeh underlined that this decision is linked to “the success of electoral process”. According to al-Sayeh, “all electoral processes will be canceled in case the process of electing the president is not possible or falters.”
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
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The Tripoli-based Government of National Unity (GNU) is asking Washington to help it recover tens of billions of dollars in state assets that it alleges were stolen by Libya’s former dictator Muammar Gaddafi and his cronies and stashed around the world, Wall Street Journal reported. The Libyan officials say family members and others close to Gaddafi looted government coffers of cash, gold and rare antiquities, according to WSJ.
- The General Command of the Libyan Army declared today that reports accusing the Libyan army of providing support to one side or the other in the ongoing conflict in Sudan are untrue. They further announced that they are ready and willing to mediate between conflicting parties in Sudan to bring peace and stability to the region. “The General Command categorically denies what is being reported by some cheap and paid media outlets about the Libyan Arab Armed Forces providing support to one party against the other,” said the spokesman for the General Command of the Libyan Army, Ahmed Al-Mismari in a statement.
- The National Commission for Human Rights in Libya (NCHRL) released a statement expressing concern regarding the lack of healthcare for vulnerable groups, including migrants and minors in Libya. The committee highlighted patients’ safety at risk due to the lack of medical care. The Ministry of Health was called upon to provide clear plans to allow treatment without restriction or request paperwork.
