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Italy has signed a deal with Libya, Chad and Niger in order to stem the flow of migrants across the Mediterranean through beefed upborder controls and new reception centres in the African nations.

A joint statement by the interior ministers of the four countries said they had agreed to set up centres in Chad and Niger, key transit countries for migrants who travel to Libya and on to Italy from sub-Saharan Africa.

The statement, released Sunday after an Italy-organised meeting in Rome, said the new centres in Chad and Niger, and the existing ones in Libya, would respect international humanitarian standards.

Rights groups have slammed the conditions of existing detention centres in crisis-hit Libya and questioned how the West can ensure such international standards are met and kept.

Libyan legislation criminalises illegal immigration so it is not clear how these could be reception centres and not detention centres, Mattia Toaldo, a European Council on Foreign Relations expert, said Monday.

The establishment of reception centres in Niger and Chad is also questionable: is Europe outsourcing its border control to these countries? If so, in exchange for what amounts of money and coming from where?.

Toaldo also questioned why the deal was made by interior ministers and how they hoped to follow through on a commitment to promote legal economic development as an alternative to the wealthy trafficking trade.

Brink of famine

On Sunday the head of the United Nations refugee agency Filippo Grandi urged Libyan authorities to free all asylum seekers and refugees from its detention centres, slamming the conditions as shocking.

While promising to try to step-up the UNHCRs presence, Grandi said it would take time for political and security reasons.

Libya has long been a stepping stone for migrants seeking a better life in Europe. People smugglers have stepped up their lucrative business in the chaos which has engulfed the country since its 2011 revolution.

Italian police last Monday (15 May) arrested 70 members of the powerful Ndrangheta mafia syndicate, after the gang pocketed 35 million in public funds, with the help of a Catholic charity organisation. EURACTIVs partner Ouest-France reports.

Italy registered nearly 50,000 migrant arrivals by sea by mid-April, 97% of them from Libya, according to Rome.

The Libyan coastguard is believed to have picked up close to 6,000 migrants attempting the perilous crossing this year and returned them to Libya, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

Nigerians have made up the largest group of people heading to Italy since January. Two million people are teetering on the brink of famine in the countrys northeast, home to the notoriously ruthless Boko Haram.

The jihadist group launched an uprising there in 2009 which has since spilled over into neighbouring Chad and Niger.

Link:
Italy inks deal with Libya neighbours to stem migrant flow - EURACTIV

The Libya Observer

Video: New operation launched against wholesalers The Libya Observer Large Libyan supermarket chains that were supposed sell their subsidized goods at the cheaper price were only selling some at the lower price and the rest was being sold to Egyptians, as Egyptians would not report such activity to authorities in fear ...

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Video: New operation launched against wholesalers - The Libya Observer

The Libya Observer

Sirraj, Trump meet in Riyadh The Libya Observer Sirraj also held a separate meeting with US Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, who reiterated his country's support for an inclusive solution that brings stability again to Libya. In his speech in Riyadh Summit, Sirraj called on the international ... Libyan PM meets Trump in Saudi ArabiaLibyan Express all 2 news articles »

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Sirraj, Trump meet in Riyadh - The Libya Observer

BENGHAZI, Libya A car bomb killed a prominent tribal elder allied to eastern security forces and five other people outside a mosque in a town south of Benghazi as they were leaving afternoon prayers on Friday, a security official said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility but rivals of the eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA) have previously carried out similar attacks in Benghazi targeting figures associated with the LNA.

The blast in Suluq, 31 miles (50 km) south of Benghazi killed Ibrayk Al-Awati, an elder of the Al-Awaqir tribe, and 11 wounded 11 other people, the official said.

The LNA has been fighting a three-year campaign against Islamist militants and other opponents in Benghazi and other parts of eastern Libya.

Images shared on social media showed flames and plumes of black smoke rising from the shell of a car, with debris and blood on the ground nearby.

Libya has been split since 2014 between rival governments aligned with loose and shifting armed alliances based in the east and west of the country.

(Reporting by Ayman al-Warfalli Writing by Aidan Lewis; Editing by Louise Ireland)

DUBAI Iranians yearning for detente abroad and greater freedoms at home have handed President Hassan Rouhani a second term, but the hardline forces he defeated in elections on Friday will remain defiantly opposed to his plans.

HOMS, Syria/BEIRUT Syrian rebels started leaving the last opposition-held district of Homs city on Saturday in the final phase of an evacuation deal that will bring an early center of the uprising back under government control in the conflict's seventh year.

BEIRUT Islamic State militants killed nearly 20 people including two children in a village in Syria's eastern Deir al-Zor province, and captured fighters participating in a U.S.-backed operation against the jihadists, a monitoring group said on Saturday.

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Tribal elder, five others killed by car bomb south of Libya's Benghazi: of... - Reuters

Tunis, 17th May 2017 - UNFPA, United Nation Fund for Population, IOM, the UN Migration Agency, and IFRC, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, have jointly organized a training on Gender Based Violence Multi-Sectoral Coordination in Libya during the period 14th to 18th of May 2017.

The overall objective of the training is to raise awareness of GBV in humanitarian settings in the region and specifically in Libya and to provide fundamental skills to formulate appropriate prevention, mitigation and response strategies and programme interventions, and strengthen coordination across all relevant sectors. The training is the outcome of the combined efforts of UNFPA, Ahfad University in Khartoum and the KAWTAR Center for Arab Women for Training and Research and a new partnership between IOM and UNFPA with regards to the protection of vulnerable women in Libya. The workshop is aiming to set a new structure to ensure the protection of the most at risk women and girls among displaced and conflict affected families including migrants.

Thirty participants from the Ministry of Social Affairs, Ministry of Health/ National Control Disease Center, Ministry of Interior and local CSOs/NGOs working on protection and GBV in Libya and Tunisia took part in the training. This synergy of efforts among the Libyan authorities and humanitarian actors is critical in order to provide seamless services to the most vulnerable efficiently.

I salute the Libyan women, who is facing challenges inside and outside the house and who, we should guarantee their protection by providing psychosocial support, health services and legal counselling. This is only possible by close coordination with partners and a multi-sectorial approach on the ground with the line ministries and civil society actors said Dr. Georges Makram GEORGI, UNFPA Libya Country Director.

Partnership is an essential part to ensure women protection, it allows for more coordinated and cohesive approaches on Sexual and Gender based-violence said Amelia MARZAL, IFRC Head of Country Cluster. This training is a great example of coordination, led by UNFPA with its partners, to work together to achieve common goals. And from the International Federation together with the Libyan Red Crescent we are very glad to join efforts in this initiative.

Maysa KHALIL, Programme Officer, IOM Libya, stated IOM is ensuring that the protection of women and men is mainstreamed in all our Programmes though our strategic partners in Libya such as the Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Social Affair and Ministry of Health. This workshop serves as a good opportunity to further enhance the coordination between UN agencies and partners inside Libya to better assist vulnerable populations.

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Gender Based Violence (GBV) Multi-sectoral Coordination in Libya - ReliefWeb