Libya Security Highlights (July 24-31, 2023)

NATIONAL SECURITY ISSUES

• Fourteen Pakistani migrants have been deported home from Libya, reported 24NewsHD TV channel on Sunday, July 30. According to officials, all of them were made to board Pakistan-bound flight at Benghazi airport.

• Almost 800 irregular migrants drowned off Tunisia in the first half of this year as they tried to reach Europe by boat, a National Guard spokesman told AFP. “789 bodies of migrants were recovered from the sea, including 102 Tunisians, the others foreigners and unidentified people,” said Houcem Eddine Jebabli, adding that more than 34,000 were rescued. The North African country has become a major gateway for irregular migrants and asylum-seekers attempting the perilous sea voyage in often rickety boats in the hope of a better life in Europe.

• The humanitarian crisis at the Tunisia-Libya border has intensified in recent weeks, with the discovery of over 25 bodies in the no man’s land between the two countries, according to aid groups and Tunisian officials. Hundreds of African migrants expelled from Tunisia have been stranded in the border area, facing dire conditions and lacking food, water and shelter. Most hail from sub-Saharan nations and were expelled following clashes in the Tunisian town of Sfax between migrants and locals after the death of a Tunisian youth.

• An armed group stormed the headquarters of Libya’s Supreme Judicial Council in the capital Tripoli in an attempt to install a new council president, witnesses say. The raid coincided with the House of Representatives appointing a rival candidate, Mohamed al-Guei, to lead the judicial body.

• Five bodies of sub-Saharan migrants have been recovered in a desolate area near the border between Libya and Tunisia, Libya’s interior ministry said in a statement on Monday, July 24. The ministry said the bodies were found during patrols near the border areas with Tunisia between Dahra and Tawilat Al-Rutba.

• The Libyan Red Crescent, International Organization for Migration (IOM) and UNICEF provided yesterday life-saving humanitarian relief for 400 stranded migrants at the Libyan-Tunisian border, IOM said. IOM and UNICEF said they provided “snacks and drinking water” and “hygiene kits” to address the needs of stranded migrants. A week ago, Libyan border guards have rescued dozens of refugees and migrants who have been left in the desert by Tunisian authorities without water or food, and their numbers are “rising”, a Libyan officer said.

NATIONAL POLITICS AND SOCIAL ISSUES

• Libyan Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah met today with the German Ambassador to Libya, Michael Ohnmacht, and the Austrian Ambassador to Libya, Christoph Weidinger, to discuss the latest political developments in the country. The meeting, held at the Prime Minister’s office in Tripoli, focused on preparations for upcoming meetings of the International Follow-up Committee on Libya, especially in light of its recent recommendations to provide a secure environment for holding elections.

• UN envoy to Libya, Abdoulaye Bathily said he met with the Libyan House of Representatives (HoR) Speaker, Agila Saleh, in Benghazi to discuss the legal framework for general elections. “We agreed to resolve the outstanding issues so the electoral process can be successfully implemented,” Bathily tweeted.

• The UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Libya, Abdoulaye Bathily, said that major challenges remain in holding elections in Libya at this time. Speaking at a meeting of the 5+5 Joint Military Commission (JMC) in Benghazi, Bathily stated that ensuring security, including the withdrawal of foreign fighters, and addressing armed groups were among the top obstacles to elections.
• The Fezzan Coalition, a group of civil society organizations and activists from the Fezzan region of southwest Libya, has issued a statement rejecting any project or agreement that aims to locally integrate illegal migrants discussed at the Rome Conference on Development and Migration.
• UNICEF mission in Libya announced a US$800,000 contribution from the Government of Switzerland for the programme “Support Vulnerable Children in Libya through Child-Sensitive Social Protection, Education, and Protection Services”. According to UNICEF, The two-year project aims to improve access to inclusive social protection services and to strengthen child protection systems.

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

• Mohamed Al-Menfi, chairman of Libya’s Presidential Council, has arrived in St. Petersburg to participate in the Russia-Africa summit starting today and tomorrow, Russia’S state-owned news agency TAAS reports. Upon his arrival to the summit’s venue, Al-Menfi was welcomed by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
• The Libyan Interior Minister Emad Al-Trabelsi and his Maltese counterpart Byron Camilleri have had talks in Malta on security cooperation and, the training of the Libyan coastguard in search and rescue and combatting human trafficking. The talks were held at the maritime base of the Armed Forces of Malta at Haywharf, Floriana.

• Libyan Foreign Minister Najla Mangoush arrived in Tehran where she met with her Iranian counterpart Hossein Amirabdollahian. According to Iranian state-owned news agency IRNA, the two chief diplomats reportedly discussed bilateral issues, as well as the latest regional and international developments.

  

• The Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations and Head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya, Abdoulaye Bathily, yesterday discussed with Deputy Chairman of the Libyan Presidential Council Abdullah Al-Lafi the latest developments in the situation in Libya, in particular the elections and national reconciliation, and the results of the 5+5 Joint Military Committee meetings held on July 16-18 in the French capital, Paris.