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Libyas interim authorities reopened on Sunday the Mediterranean coastal highway linking the countrys long-divided eastern and western cities, in the latest bid to reunite the territories after years of civil war

By NOHA ELHENNAWY Associated Press

June 21, 2021, 12:06 AM

3 min read

CAIRO -- Libyas interim authorities reopened on Sunday the Mediterranean coastal highway linking the countrys long-divided eastern and western cities, in the latest bid to reunite the territories after years of civil war.

The announcement comes three days ahead of an international conference on Libya that will be hosted by Germany and the United Nations in Berlin.

I am so delighted to participate in the opening of this essential lifeline linking the east of our country to its west, Libyan Prime Minister Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah told a crowd that gathered as bulldozers were towing away rocks and sand dunes blocking the road.

The coastal highway has been closed since April 2019 after east-based military commander Khalifa Hifter launched a military offensive to wrest the capital, Tripoli, from the U.N.-recognized government. Its reopening was a long-held demand by the U.N. to enable the safe passage of civilians and goods.

The United States' embassy in Libya hailed the move, saying in a tweet it was paving the path for Libyans to have full control over their own affairs.

Dbeibah was elected as interim prime minister, along with a four-member presidential council, by Libyan delegates at a U.N.-sponsored conference in February. They are meant to shepherd the country to nationwide elections late this year.

In March, the transitional government announced the resumption of flights between eastern Benghazi and western Misrata after seven years of suspension. Both cities have been key strongholds of Libyas warring factions.

Libya has been mired in chaos since a NATO-backed uprising toppled and later killed longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011. Afterwards, the oil-rich country was long divided between a U.N.-supported government in the capital, Tripoli, and rival authorities based in the countrys east, each backed by armed groups and foreign governments.

On Wednesday, an international conference on Libya is set to kick off in Berlin to discuss preparations for the general elections, and withdrawal of foreign forces who were brought in to fight for the opposing sides.

The resumption of traffic on the route stretching along Libyas Mediterranean coastline comes amid tensions between interim authorities and Hifters troops. On Saturday, Hifters self-styled Libyan Arab Armed Forces announced the deployment of more troops in the largely lawless south, and the closure of the western border with Algeria, saying it was to combat terrorism. In response, Libyas presidential council issued a decree sending their own brigades to the south.

Jalel Harchaoui, a Libya expert and senior fellow at the Global Initiative, said that he saw the announcement as posturing ahead of the Berlin negotiations. He said Hifter wants his troops to continue to be seen as a force to be reckoned with, but that its unlikely that they could enforce such a closure.

Hifter does not have the ability to send forces to close the Algeria borders. It is just too long, too far away and beyond his capacity, he said.

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Libya's interim government reopens Mediterranean highway ...

Do not travel to Libya due tocrime, terrorism, civil unrest, kidnapping,andarmed conflict.Reconsider travel to Libya due toCOVID-19.

Readthe Department of StatesCOVID-19pagebeforeyouplan any internationaltravel.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued aLevel3Travel Health Notice forLibyadue to COVID-19, indicating ahigh level of COVID-19 in the country.Your risk of contracting COVID-19 and developing severe symptoms may be lower if you are fully vaccinated with an FDA authorized vaccine. Before planning any international travel, please review the CDC's specific recommendations forvaccinatedandunvaccinatedtravelers.

Visitthe State DepartmentsCOVID-19 pagefor more information on COVID-19and related restrictions and conditionsin Libya.

Crime levels in Libya remain high, including the threat of kidnapping for ransom. Westerners and U.S. citizens have been targets of these crimes.

Terrorist groups continue plotting attacks in Libya. Violent extremist activity in Libya remains high, and extremist groups have made threats against U.S. government officialsandcitizens.. Terrorists may attack with little or no warning, targeting tourist locations, hotels, transportation hubs, markets/shopping malls, andgovernment facilities.

Outbreaks of violence between competing armed groups can occur with little warning and have the potential to impact U.S. citizens. The capital, Tripoli, and other cities, such asSurman, Al-Jufra, Misrata, Ajdabiya, Benghazi, Sabha, andDernah, have witnessed fighting among armed groups, as well as terrorist attacks. Hotels and airports frequented by Westerners have beenthe targets of these attacks. Even demonstrations intended to be peaceful can turn confrontational and escalate into violence.

Militiaor armedgroups sometimes detain travelers for arbitrary reasons, do not grant detainees access to a lawyer oralegal process, and do not allow detainees to inform others of their status. U.S. citizens should carry proof of citizenship and valid immigration status at all times, but having these documents does not guarantee fair treatment.

Some international and national airports are closed, and flights out of operational airports are sporadic and may be cancelled without warning. The U.S. government is very concerned about the targeting of commercial transportation in Libya and prohibits U.S. commercial aviation operations within Libyan airspace.

The U.S. government is unable to provide emergency or routine assistance to U.S. citizens in Libya, as the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli suspended its operations in July 2014.

Due to risks to civil aviation operating within or in the vicinity of Libya, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) and/or a Special Federal Aviation Regulation (SFAR). For more information U.S. citizens should consult theFederal Aviation Administrations Prohibitions, Restrictions and Notices.

Read the Safety and Security section on thecountry information page.

If you decide to travel to Libya:

Last Update: Reissued with updates to COVID-19 information.

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Libya Travel Advisory

For Aisha, sexual slavery was something you only heard about happening to others in television reports, until she found herself locked in a living "hell" in Libya.

"I had left a nightmare only to fall into hell," said the migrant from Guinea, lured to the North African country that criminal gangs have turned into a den of racketeering.

Aisha fled her home country after five miscarriages: for her in-laws and the neighbourhood, she was either sterile or a witch.

But the young woman was simply diabetic.

"I just wanted to disappear from my country," said Aisha, a graduate in hotel management.

She contacted a former classmate who appeared to have made a life for herself in neighbouring Libya and who lent Aisha money to join her.

"I didn't even see the country. As soon as I arrived, I was locked up, I was a slave. She brought men to me and she got the money."

Locked in a room with a toilet, she only saw the "friend" who had duped her when she was brought in food, "like a dog".

"The men came drunk. I'd rather not remember it," said Aisha, still trembling. "I thought my life was over."

Aisha, a migrant from Guinea, plays with her baby daughter at a park in the Tunisian town of Medenine Photo: AFP / FATHI NASRI

After three months, a Libyan man took pity on her, threatened her captor and put Aisha on a bus to Tunisia with 300 Libyan dinars ($65) in her pocket.

After her diabetes was treated, she even gave birth to a baby girl late last year.

She now dreams of Europe, but returning to Libya is out of the question.

"I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy."

For the past two years, she has lived with other migrant women in Medenine, southern Tunisia.

Most of the others who'd experienced Libya had also been forced into prostitution, raped or sexually assaulted, said Mongi Slim, head of the local Red Crescent.

"Some of them, if they had the protection of a man, they fared better. But for single women, it's almost systematic," said Slim.

Some migrants said they had been advised to take a three-month contraception jab before departure, and some travel with morning-after pills, according to UN reports.

Aisha fled Guinea to Libya only to find herself reduced to a sex slave. She now dreams of Europe Photo: AFP / FATHI NASRI

Mariam, an Ivorian orphan, left with 1,000 euros ($1,200) to pay for the crossing from Abidjan to Libya via Mali and Algeria.

She hoped to earn enough in Libya to reach Europe.

But she ended up spending most of her year there in prison, where she was sexually exploited, before fleeing to Tunisia in 2018.

"I worked for six months with a family, then I set off by sea from Zuwara," a port in western Libya, said Mariam, 35.

"Armed men caught us, took us to prison and abused us," she said.

Mariam said she had fallen into the hands of militiamen who run illegal migrant camps where extortion, rape and forced labour are common.

Official centres under Libyan government control, and where the European Union-funded coastguard transfers would-be exiles it intercepts, are also riddled with corruption and violence, including sexual assault, according to the United Nations.

"Every morning, a chief would make his choices and send the chosen girls to Libyans who had rented special rooms," said Mariam.

"They fed me bread, sardines and salad. I stayed there a month until they moved me to another place," she recalled, her voice spiked with anger.

"They were armed, they smoked drugs, they paid the chief but not me."

According to rights groups, men and boys are also sexually abused.

"Sexual violence continues to be perpetrated with impunity by traffickers and smugglers along migration routes, in detention centres, judicial police prisons, and against urban migrants by militants and armed groups", the United Nations said in a 2019 report.

Such criminality increased with the intensification of the Libyan conflict from 2014.

Three migrant detention centres in Libya were closed in mid-2019 and the establishment in March of a new UN-sponsored transitional government has raised hope of a decline in impunity and violence.

The UN decided last year to deploy protection officers to combat sexual crimes.

But they have yet to even be recruited, and intercepted migrants are still turned back to Libya, to the dismay of international organisations.

On June 12, a record of more than 1,000 people caught at sea were sent back to Libyan jails, according to the UNHCR.

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Women Migrants Reduced To Sex Slaves In Libya 'Hell'

A migrant swims towards the Vos Triton commercial supply ship off the coast of Libya's coast on May 11, 2019. REUTERS

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) and UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, can confirm that over 270 migrants and refugees were handed over to the Libyan Coast Guardby the ship Vos Triton, sailing under the flag of Gibraltar.

Vos Triton had rescued the group in international waters during their attempt to reach Europe on 14 June. On 15 June, the Libyan Coast Guard returned them to the main port of Tripoli, from where they were taken into detention by the Libyan authorities.

The two organizations reiterate that no one should be returned to Libya after being rescued at sea. Under international maritime law, rescued individuals should be disembarked at a place of safety.

IOM and UNHCR staff are in Libya, providing life-saving humanitarian assistance. However, the agencies reiterate that the basic preconditions to ensure the safety and protection of rescued migrants and refugees post-disembarkation are lacking; therefore, Libya cannot be considered a safe place.

In the absence of predictable disembarkation mechanisms, maritime actors should not be obliged to return refugees and migrants to unsafe places. IOM and UNHCR call on States to coordinate so that merchant vessels rescuing people in distress are granted swift permission for disembarkation in a place of safety, to avoid lives being placed at risk.

TheLibyanCoast Guard has returned more than13,000people to Libya this year, already surpassing the number of people intercepted or rescued and disembarked in all of 2020. Hundreds of others have perished at sea.

The continuing departures from Libya highlight the need for a predictable rescue and disembarkation mechanism along the Central Mediterranean route, with immediate effect and in full compliance with international human rights principles and standards.

Migrants and refugees disembarked in Libya often end up in appalling conditions where they may be exposed to abuse and extortion. Others go missing and are unaccounted for, raising fears that some may have been channeled into human trafficking networks.

IOM and UNHCR call for an end to arbitrary detention in Libya, through the establishment of a judicial review process, and advocate for alternatives to detention starting with the immediate release of the most vulnerable.

For more information please contact:

IOM

UNHCR

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IOM and UNHCR condemn the return of migrants and refugees to Libya - UNHCR

Over 13,000 migrants have been returned to Libya by the Libyan coastguard this year, already surpassing 2020 levels, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) has said.

The intergovernmental organization and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) have issued a joint statement condemning returns to Libya following the handover of over 270 people rescued at sea from a ship sailing under the Gibraltar flag to Libyan authorities between June 14 and June 15.

2021 is now on course to break the record for the highest number of interceptions and returns by the Libyan Coast Guard since the country descended into crisis over a decade ago, said Tom Garofalo, NGO International Rescue Committees (IRC) Country Director in Libya, in a statement.

No one should be returned to Libya after being rescued at sea. Under international maritime law, rescued individuals should be disembarked at a place of safety, the IOM and UNHCR statement read, reiterating that since basic preconditions are not met, Libya cannot be considered a safe place.

On Wednesday, EU ambassadors agreed on an extended negotiating mandate for the Council and the European Parliament to strengthen the EU asylum agency regulation, known as EASO. This comes after ministers from Cyprus, Greece, Spain, Italy, and Maltaoffered their supportfor a deal that could turn EASO into a fully-fledged European agency.

If this is achieved, EASO will be able to provide swift operational support wherever it is most needed and contribute to increase mutual trust among member states, said Eduardo Cabrita, the interior minister of Portugal, which currently holds the rotating Council of the EU presidency.

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Number of migrants returned to Libya could reach all-time high - POLITICO Europe