NATIONAL SECURITY ISSUES
- A Tunisian rights group condemned a “repressive and inhumane” government decision to deport a group of migrants who had been evacuated from a defunct refugee camp, AFP reported. The 25 men from Egypt, Niger, Nigeria and Sudan had sought asylum in Tunisia after fleeing violence in neighboring Libya in 2011, but their requests were denied, said Romdhane Ben Amor of the Tunisian Forum for Social and Economic Rights (FTDES).
- A UN human rights expert on Friday called on the authorities in Libya to take urgent steps to protect all women and girls in the country from “rampant violence and mistreatment, to fully implement prevention measures, and ensure protection and support for victims,” according to a statement from the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
- Since 2017, a total of 5,017 refugees have left Niger to third countries through resettlement or complementary pathways, according to UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). This number comprises of 3,493 persons, who have been evacuated from Libya through the Emergency Transit Mechanism (ETM), and 1,524 refugees that have been registered in the national asylum system in Niger.
- Two ships of the Tunisian Navy intervened to prevent the seizure of two Tunisian fishing boats by the Libyan Coast Guard accused of fishing in Libyan waters, Italian news agency Nova reports. Citing spokesman for the Tunisian Defense Ministry Colonel Mohamed Zeki, Nova reported that the two vessels were in the continental shelf of Tunisian territorial waters and were accompanied by units towards the coastal city of Sfax.
- The Italian ambassador in Libya, Giuseppe Buccino Grimaldi, met with the Minister of the Interior of the Libyan Government of National Unity (GNU), Imad Trabelsi, for discussion on the security situation in the country as well as the migration crisis, according to a statement by the Libyan interior ministry. Furthermore, both sides discussed transnational organized crime and terrorism, the ministry said.
- International Organization for Migration (IOM) said 1,042 migrants were intercepted and returned to Libya in the period of 11 – 17 December 2022. So far in 2022, 23,596 migrants have been disembarked on Libyan shores, according to IOM. It added that 520 migrants died and 844 went missing in the period from 1 Jan to 17 December, 2022 on the Central Mediterranean route. IOM pointed out that 32,425 migrants were disembarked on Libyan shores in 2021, while 662 died and 891 went missing.
NATIONAL POLITICS AND SOCIAL ISSUES
- Head of the Libyan Amazigh Supreme Council, al-Hadi Barqiq, announced the start of forming a constitutional body for the fourth administrative region through direct election, after the political parties failed to find a consensual constitutional basis. In a statement published by the Council, Barqiq congratulated the Libyan nation on the 71st anniversary of Libya’s independence. “This anniversary was made by the ancestors to push for the stability of the country,” the statement said.
- If Saleh and Al-Mashri do not agree on elections, “alternative mechanisms” should be used, Germany warns. The German Foreign Ministry called on the speaker of the House of Representatives and the president of the High State Council, to come together under UN auspices to agree swiftly on the constitutional basis.
- The head of the government appointed by the House of Representatives, Fathi Bashagha, called on the House of Representatives and the State Council to “accelerate the pace of dialogue in order to reach a constitutional basis and a unified government that leads the country to presidential and parliamentary elections and to restore national sovereignty.”
- Libya celebrates the 71st anniversary of its independence, which came after decades of struggle against the Italian colonizer. From the balcony of al-Manar Palace in Benghazi, King Muhammad Idris al-Senussi officially declared Libya’s independence on December 24, 1951.
- Deputy Prime Minister of Italy and Minister of Foreign Affairs Antonio Tajani confirmed that there is great concern about Libya, indicating that they are working intensively with all their diplomats on the Libyan issue. This came during a speech by Tajani on Libya at the opening session of the conference of Italian ambassadors to the world, organized by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Rome on December 21 and 22, with the participation of more than 100 Italian ambassadors abroad.
- The Security Council on Tuesday expressed deep concern over the persistent political deadlock in Libya almost one year after elections scheduled for Dec. 24, 2021, failed to materialize, and more than two years after the agreement of the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum roadmap. In a press statement, the members of the Security Council expressed their disappointment at the lack of progress, which continues to risk the achievement of stability and the unity of the country.
- The head of the National Movement Party, Mustafa al-Zaidi, called for a popular uprising to overthrow the government of Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh, which he described as “lacking legitimacy.” The invitation is also addressed to the ministers of the Dbeibeh government to “get out of it so as not to be placed in a position of concealing its crimes,” said Al-Zaidi, who is considered one of the leading figures in the late Muammar Gaddafi’s regime.
- France’s Ambassador to Libya, Mostafa Mihraje, held a meeting with chairman High National Election Commission (HNEC), Imad al-Sayeh, to discuss elections in the country. Mihraje described the talks as “constructive exchanges” about “free and transparent elections throughout Libya.”
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
- Meeting of Arab information ministers kicked off Saturday in Tripoli, as part of the closing activities of “Tripoli the Capital of Arab Media 2022.” The Assistant Secretary-General of the League of Arab States and Head of the Information and Communication Sector, Ambassador Ahmed Khattabi, representative of the League’s General Secretariat, expressed his thanks to the Libyan organizers for the good organization of this event. “We congratulate Tripoli on its merit for being chosen as the capital of Arab media,” he said.
- Somali Information Minister Da’ud Aweys has paid a visit to Libya, where he met with the deputy prime minister of the Libyan outgoing government Hussein al-Qatrani and discussed ways to strengthen the bilateral relations between the two countries. Aweys conveyed a greeting message from his Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre to al-Qatrani, according to a statement published by the state media.
- U.N. Special Envoy to Libya Abdoulaye Bathily held a meeting with Prime Minister of the Government of National Unity, Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh, to discuss his government’s mechanisms to “ensure fair distribution of national resources, government spending and the adopted transparency and disclosure procedures,” according to statement by Bathily.
- Ankara is calling on Libya and Egypt to start dialogue and negotiations “as soon as possible” to resolve the differences between the two countries over the demarcation of maritime borders, reported Turkish state-owned broadcaster TRT World. This comes after Libya had rejected a December 11 decision by Egypt to unilaterally demarcate its western maritime borders with neighbouring Libya with nine geographic coordinates.
