Austrian soldiers to stop migrants from Italy
Austria is sending soldiers to stop migrants coming from Italy, while Bulgaria has said the EU should “defend” its borders by “force of arms”. Austria said it would deploy 70 soldiers, but no armoured vehicles, at the Brenner Pass to Italy on Thursday (17 August). Migrants in Bulgaria: Sofia wants Nato to stop people coming. Migrant routesItaly and Greece are still the main route for asylum seekers and economic migrants trying to enter the EU. The 2017 figure would have been higher, but a deal with Libya to stop migrants in Libyan waters and to chase away NGO rescue boats led to a recent drop-off in numbers.
Source:Libya Today
August 17, 2017 07:30 UTC
Spain rescues 600 people at sea in busiest day
Spanish coastguards have rescued nearly 600 people from 15 boats and a jet ski in the waters between Morocco and SpainSpain's coastguard says it has rescued just under 600 migrants crossing from Morocco in a 24-hour period amid a spike in the number of migrant arrivals.A coastguard spokesman said 599 people had been rescued since the early hours of yesterday morning, a large number for just one day in Spain.The rescued migrants were in 15 vessels including toy paddleboats and a jet ski and included 35 children and a baby. "The high number of boats coming to the Spanish coast this summer is unusual," a spokeswoman for Spain's coastguards said, adding that there were three times as many as in the same period last year.The route between Morocco and Spain is increasingly used by migrants trying to reach Europe.According to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), 8,385 migrants had arrived in Spain this year by 9 August.The number of migrants arriving in Spain by sea does not include those entering the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla in north Africa, which are the EU's only land borders with Africa.The increase in crossings means Spain could overtake Greece this year in the number of migrants arriving by sea, IOM said earlier this month.More than 120 people are believed to have drowned attempting the crossing.Most are sailing across the 12km Strait of Gibraltar and many are choosing cheap, child-sized paddle boats without motors that allow them to bypass people smuggling networks and their fees.However, a much larger number - nearly 100,000 - have crossed from Libya to Italy since the start of the year. In June, about 5,000 people were rescued in just one day in the Mediterranean Sea off Libya, Italian coastguards said. The IOM said 2,242 people have died on that route.
Source:Libya Today
August 17, 2017 06:22 UTC
Kampung Memali, where people still wait for Mahathir’s apology
Public enemyOn Nov 19, 1985, some 200 policemen arrived at the village, transforming Memali into a top security area. Water under the bridgeToday, Memali is a village of some 2,000 people, most of them rubber tappers. Meanwhile, Marzuki Ahmad, a former mudir (headmaster) of the madrasah set-up by Ibrahim, questions Mahathir’s defence of the Memali siege by raising the death of the four policemen. In a court settlement, the government paid RM20,000 to the widows of the men who died in the Memali incident. Perhaps it will only be laid to rest with the apology that Abdullah and others are longing for.
Source:Libya Today
August 17, 2017 02:15 UTC
Armed clashes among pro-Haftar gunmen erupted east Derna
Clashes erupted Wednesday among groups of gunmen of Omar Al-Mukhtar operations room near Martuba checkpoint in east Derna. According to eyewitnesses, the gunmen used light weapons to resolve the dispute over who should be controlling the checkpoint that separate Derna from the areas eastward. "The gunmen, after internal clashes, opened fire on Derna locals who were gathering there since early morning to enter Martuba to buy basic needs after all of the city's entrances and exits have been closed for two weeks." According to sources, the reason behind the clashes was that some of the gunmen wanted to open the road for Derna residents to enter Martuba, while others disagreed. He also urged local and international organizations and officials to lift the siege on Derna and allow the basic needs and services to enter the city urgently via humanitarian corridors.
Source:Libya Observer
August 16, 2017 22:18 UTC
Libyan east government's foreign minister survives car accident, four companions die
The foreign minister of the Interim Government of eastern Libya Mohammed Al-Dairi survived a car accident on Tuesday, while four of his companions died as his convoy went into a car crash on the desert road nearby Al-Makhili in east Al-Bayda. According to sources, two of his security guards died immediately in the crash, while two employees from the ministry died at Qubba Hospital in eastAl-Bayda. The foreign minister got out of the accident with no serious injuries. A car accident on January 10, 2016, killed the House of Representatives' member for Qubba, Muna Al-Ghaithi and her nephew while they were heading to Tobruk to attend a session. Likewise, a guard for the HoR's Speaker Aqilah Saleh died in a car accident as Saleh's convoy drove on Al-Mukhaili road in last March.
Source:Libya Observer
August 16, 2017 19:41 UTC
Spanish NGO's vessel seized by Libyan Coast Guard
Spanish NGO, Proactiva Open Arms, said Tuesday that its ship (Golfo Azzurro) had been seized for two hours by the Libyan coastguard in international waters, according to Agence France-Presse. The NGO said its ship was 44.5 km off Libyan coast when the Libyan coastguards had seized it. Founder of Proactiva Open Arms, Oscar Camps, tweeted Tuesday that Libyan coastguards threatened to open fire on the ship if it did not return with them to the Libyan waters, adding that they backed off after one hour and 44 minutes in custody. A photographer for Reuters aboard the ship said Libyan coastguards intercepted the ship, ordering it to sail to Tripoli or risk being targeted. Defend Europe Association, which is opposed to the NGOs working in rescue operation, said its ship heard the Libyan coastguards warning Golfo Azzurro to leave Libyan waters or follow them to Tripoli.
Source:Libya Observer
August 16, 2017 17:48 UTC
News Roundup - Wed, Aug 16, 2017
The NGO said its ship was 44.5 km off Libyan coast when the Libyan coastguards had seized it. ------------------------------------------The head of the National Oil Corporation, Mustafa Sanallah, visited Tobruk on Tuesday evening to attend the 7th conference on oil refineries in Libya. ------------------------------------------The spokesman for the Libyan Navy, Brigadier Ayoub Qasem, accused NGOs working to rescue illegal immigrants of infiltrating the sovereignty of the Libyan state. This illegal collection is in violation of the laws and regulations governing the law of the state's public funds. The Ahli administration in Tripoli is counting on the strong attendance of their fans to support their team in this important match.
Source:Libya Observer
August 16, 2017 13:20 UTC
107 private schools shut down by the Ministry of Education
The Minister of Education in the UN proposed government Othman AbdelJalil, withdrew licenses of 107 private schools, preventing them from engaging in any educational activities. AbdelJalil also referred the schools officials to the Attorney General to be investigated, and prohibited any agencies of the ministry from dealing with these schools. He also said that a committee is formed that will submit a detailed report on this matter within a maximum period of fifteen days, in preparation for taking the necessary legal measures against any school breaking the law. This decision comes against the backdrop of manipulation of some of the schools that are being investigated being involved in the public examinations scandal.
Source:Libya Observer
August 16, 2017 13:07 UTC
Illegal immigrants go on hunger strike
Approximately 210 illegal immigrants from the Kingdom of Morocco, including 30 women, have been on hunger strike for two days in a Tripoli housing center in protest against the Moroccan authorities' failure to cooperate with the illegal immigration Control Agency in Libya on deportation procedures that would return them to Morocco. Moroccan authorities sent a committee four months ago to take the fingerprints of the migrants and promised to return them to their country but there has been no correspondence since then.
Source:Libya Observer
August 16, 2017 13:07 UTC
Sarraj meets representatives from Derna
The head of the Presidential Council of the UN proposed government, Fayez Sarraj met yesterday at the headquarters of the council in Tripoli with a delegation from the city of Derna headed by the head of the Local Council Awad Airaj. Sarraj stated that he issued immediate instructions to provide all needs to the desalination plant in Derna and all the urgent requirements of the service facilities of the city. Sarraj also stated that he put in place a direct line of communication between the Local Council of Derna and the ministries of his government. According to the media office of the UN proposed government, Sarraj expressed deep sorrow for the suffering of the residents of the city of Derna stressing his government's efforts to lift the siege on the city and talked about the need to separate the provision of services to citizens from any conflict pointing out the need to open safe corridors for the delivery of medical equipment, medicines and food to the population.
Source:Libya Observer
August 16, 2017 13:02 UTC
NGO's expelled from Libyan territorial waters
The spokesman for the Libyan Navy, Brigadier Ayoub Qasem, accused NGOs working to rescue illegal immigrants of infiltrating the sovereignty of the Libyan state. Doctors Without Borders, Save the Children and CA have suspended their operations to rescue migrants off the coast of Libya, following the decision of the Libyan authorities to establish a search and rescue area in Libyan territorial waters. This action will prevent foreign ships from carrying out missions to save migrants, with the exception of being at the request of the Libyan authorities.
Source:Libya Observer
August 16, 2017 12:54 UTC
Eastern government bans Italian companies for alleged hostility towards Libya
The Ministry of Economy of the Interim Government, a parallel body in east Libya, has issued a resolution to ban the Italian companies from working in Libya or establishing any joint Libyan-Italian firms. The resolution referred for the prohibition of opening or extending branches of Italian companies in Libya until further notice. Minister Munir Asar told his government’s news agency that the decision was taken due to "Italy's outspoken hostility towards Libyan people". “Our friends who stood with us in our crisis are more entitled for economic partnership, especially that the technology is not monopolized by the Italians”, he said. The resolution only applies to the eastern region where the government has control.
Source:Libya Observer
August 16, 2017 09:19 UTC
‘You will be targeted’ Libyan coastguard issues warning to Spanish migrant rescue boat
And today, it was the turn of the Golfo Azzurro, operated by Spanish humanitarian organisation Proactiva Open Arms. The rescue boat was repeatedly contacted by a Libyan coastguard vessel, saying: "You are sailing in our waters for months now and you are conducting activities that are causing problems to Libyan state sovereignty. If you do not obey the orders right now... you will be targeted.”GETTY Thousands have been rescued off the coast of LibyaThe ship was then ordered to leave Libyan waters, and was later followed north by the Libyan coastguard vessel. A Libyan coastguard spokesman in Tripoli declined to comment on today’s incident, saying they were collecting information on what happened. GETTY A host of charities have suspended operations in Libyan waters
Source:Libya Today
August 15, 2017 21:11 UTC
UN envoy to Libya vows neutrality toward crisis as he visits Misrata
The UN envoy to Libya, Ghassan Salame, vowed Tuesday to be unbiased and to find a new mechanism for dialogue among the Libyan conflicting parties so that they reach a consensus to amend the Libyan Political Agreement (LPA.) Salame met the HoR's Speaker Aqilah Saleh in Qubba city in eastern Libya on August 06, when he stressed the need for resolving the Libyan crisis. While on August 05, Salame met in Tripoli the Head of the UN-proposed government's Presidential Council Fayez Al-Sirraj as well as the Head of the High Council of State Abdelrahman Al-Sweihli. I will try not to be the reason for more oppression in Libya and I will support the implementation of the LPA." The UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, appointed Ghassan Salame as the new Head of the UNSMIL to replace Martin Kobler.
Source:Libya Observer
August 15, 2017 20:48 UTC
Humanitarian Groups Suspend Migrant Rescue Efforts Over Libyan Threats
August 15, 2017OAN NewsroomThree prominent aid groups are suspending their migrant rescue efforts in the Mediterranean Sea after receiving threats from the Libyan coastguard. Doctors Without Borders, Save the Children, and Sea Eye all said they are halting rescue efforts due to safety concerns in an increasingly hostile environment. Tensions have been rising in the area since Thursday when the Libyan Navy ordered foreign vessels to stay out of search and rescue zones. Libyan authorities say aid groups are responsible for assisting human smugglers while hurting efforts to crack down on the migration route. Humanitarian groups worry this will leave many refugees stranded at sea.
Source:Libya Today
August 15, 2017 19:58 UTC