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Some of the returnees last week at MMIA

Within two weeks this month, more than 300 young Nigerians were repatriated from Libya in two batches by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) in collaboration with the Nigerian embassy in Libya. These are just the latest groups in an exercise that has reportedly been on for the past 14 months. In some cases, the returnees have acted voluntarily; in others, they have been forced out of the country by Libyan authorities. In every case, however, the returnees have nothing but tales of woe and expressions of regret for their decision to leave their country in search of the so-called, and as it has turned out, elusive, greener pasture.

One lady spoke of being sold to a connection home where she, and others were forced to work or suffer inhuman punishment; another who returned with a four-month pregnancy complained of repeated rape by Libyan security officials. Those who were lucky to find work at all eventually lost their savings in the confusion of arrest, detention, and eventual deportation. In sum, frustrated but hopeful young Nigerians who mustered the courage to seek their fortune outside these shores only to return in hopelessness.

Certainly, the repeated mistreatment of Nigerians in foreign lands continually puts theembassies in bad light as derelict in the most basic of their responsibilities. Notwithstanding the understandablelimitations that they face, notably funding, it is important to state that the missionscan only justify their presence and value if they meet theconstitutionally stipulatedpurpose ofany government which is toprotect the security and welfare of Nigerians wherever they are.

Talk can indeed be cheap in the mouth of a person whose yam has been roasted for him by the gods. This is particularly so among people in government. But the point must be quickly established:these returnees were not foolish. They were unhappy and frustrated in their fatherland. With no help coming from incompetent, corruption-ridden governments at all levels, they decided to take their destiny in their hands, for good or for ill. These people have gone in search of greener pasture. However, it turned out to be a terrible experience for them.They shouldnt be ashamed of themselves. This statement from the government is very apt and re-assuring.

Indeed the returnees are not ashamed of themselves; they are ashamed of their country. And every one should be. Everyone, but especially those who havebeen part offormulating,and implementing policies atgovernment level should be doubly ashamedthatthis Nigeria, blessed withunbelievable variety ofnatural resources, with exceptionalpeople whoexcel phenomenallywhen exposed to otherclimes, is in so sorry a state.In truth, the grass in other countries is hardly greener than here. Butthe managers of the affairs of these other countrieshave done a farbetter jobthan the persons who have runNigeriain thelastfour decades.By every yardstick to compare, every country that started out on the path of self-governance in the same year as Nigeria has left Nigeria behind. Nigerias youths who flock Libya en route Europe or some other greener pasture cannot be blamed for this. On the other hand they may be blamed for a particular form of ignorance. In a manner of speaking, the grass in other places is greener by a deliberate act of the people who stay to nurture it. Nigeria will not improve by the act of running away from it. No.

The mostefficaciousway to open up the Nigerianspace for maximumproductivity in all areas, of course, is to practice a true form of federalism thatenablesthefederating units to harnesstheirown resources in order to develop their areas and liberate their peoples respective creative and productive energies. In a country where the federating states possess somuch human and natural resources, there will be no shortage of opportunities for the citizens as each unit leverages on its area of comparative advantage and all engage in a healthy rivalry for development. It happened before, in the days of the regions. That done, foreigners would be finding their way to Nigeria instead of Nigerians seeking their fortune away from home.

1 day ago Opinion

1 day ago Opinion

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From Libya with woes - Guardian

A Societe Generale SA executive will have his testimony in a Libyan bribery lawsuit heard in secret because of the risk he may incriminate himself in a U.S. criminal probe.

Judge Nigel Teare refused a request by head of sales for global markets Marc El Asmar to escape testifying,according to the bankers attorneys, who said on Monday that his inclusion in the trial carries the threat of foreign incrimination. Hell give evidence in private when the trial starts later this year.

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The bank is being sued by the Libyan Investment Authority, which alleges billion-dollar investment deals with the French lender were tainted by bribery and intimidation of Libyan officials. The London lawsuit is running in parallel with a separate U.S. Justice Department investigation. A DOJ subpoena issued to the bank named El Asmar, making it more likely he will be included in the probe, his lawyer Alex Bailin said at a pre-trial hearing Monday.

Even if his testimony was not used as evidence in criminal trial, it may be used to shape the DOJs investigation, Bailin said. Any questions may expose him to the real risk of incrimination in the U.S.

Societe Generale said in its 2015 annual report that it is co-operating with American authorities and denies allegations of wrongdoing in relation to the Libya deals. The bank has reviewed more than 600,000 documents and audio files for the investigation. Murray Parker, a London-based spokesman for Societe Generale, declined to comment.

Libyas $60 billion sovereign-wealth fund is suing the French lender to recoup losses from derivative deals dating to the rule of former leader Moammar Qaddafi. The LIA also sued Goldman Sachs Group Inc. but lost its case in October when a London judge ruled the fund hadnt been misled.

Having his evidence heard in private combined with my client being forced to testify under threat of contempt would offer some protection against U.S. prosecution, Bailin said. Even so, the DOJ has already sought information from the U.K. Serious Fraud Office that is covered by a court confidentiality order and may do so again, he added.

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SocGen Banker to Give Secret Testimony in Libya Bribery Case - Bloomberg

Tobruk-based House of Representatives on Monday to select a new dialogue team to represent it in the forthcoming Libyan political dialogue meetings.

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Former regime officer Omer Salem Ishkal was in the besieged neighbourhood of Ganfouda, Benghazi on Tuesday, Saraya Media has reported.

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Derna Shura fighters said today that theyhad repelled an attack by Dignity Operation forces in Dahr Al-Homir in south Derna. Two Shura fighters and four Dignity militants were wounded in the clashes whichtook place in the early hours of the day.

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Algerian Minister for Maghreb, African Union and Arab League Affairs Abdelkader Messahel said his country has adopted a roadmap from three points to resolve the Libyan political crisis to be discussed in next months Libya meeting of Algerian,EgyptianandTunisianforeign ministers.

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Qatari Foreign MinisterMohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thanirecived in Doha a delegation of military officers from the western region of Libya, in addition to elders from the city of Misrata. The meeting discussed the Libyan political stalemate and ways of resolvingit.

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2 Dignity Operation militants were killed in clashes against Benghazi Shura Council for the control of the remaining 12 residential buildings in Ganfouda district in western Benghazi.

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Head of UN-installed Presidency Council Fayaz Sirraj told the 34thUnited Nations Human Rights Council(UNHRC) meeting in Geneva that some illegitimate Libyan parties are trying to militarize the country and bring dictatorship back to the country by banning Libyan nationals from travelling without security permit.

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The head of the Public Services Company in Derna, Talal Al-Hinsher, announced today a full stoppage of the cleaning work in the city due to the lack of fuel for garbage trucks. The so-called Omar Al-Mukhtar Military Operations Room of Dignity Operation has been besieging Derna for months, disallowing cash, cooking gas, fuel, medicines and other basic needs from entering the city.

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The Libyan medical contract workers staged a sit-in in Tripoli's Algeria Square on Monday to demand their unpaid salaries for three years.

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The Commission of Boy Scouts and Girl Guides of Benghazi marked yesterday its 63th anniversary by holding a ceremony in Sulaiman Darrat sports compound where it honored some of the most important figures in the history of the commission.

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Tripoli Medical Reference Laboratory said it will stop the performance of viral screening until further notice because of the shortage of the equipment and materials needed for it.

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The Public Company for Land Transport said that it will reopen its oil terminals trips as of tomorrow when it launches the first trip to Ras Lanuf, adding that the resumption of the trips from Tripoli to Benghazi and vice versa will take place very soon.

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The municipality of Tarhuna (90 Km southeast Tripoli) said that the official opening of Sharshara Tourist Park will take place tomorrow, calling on people from all Libyan cities to come to Tarhuna to witness the event.

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News Roundup - Tue, Feb 28, 2017 - The Libya Observer

Tuesday February 28, 2017

Read story transcript

Libya, in the eyes of many, has become a failed state.

Its economy isintatterswithmultiple governments competing for control, militias competing for terrain and its shores ground zero for migrants and traffickers.

While there have been growing calls for Canada to play an immediate role in addressing the dire state of affairs, Libyan-Canadian Ali Hamza has taken matters into his own hands.

His ailing mother and five siblings are trapped in the Ganfouda neighbourhood of Benghazi and he is doing whatever he can to help.

"Life is very difficult. Survival is the question," Hamza tells The Current's Anna Maria Tremonti about how his family is fairing in Libya.

He says that drinking water is not allowed in and people are relying on puddles and wild grass or leaves as a source of food.

Hamza, his wife and four kids are in Turkey and say they are able to provide water, food and basic medicines to around 30 families.

"We are ready to do that on our own. If we can find permission to go there, we are willing to go there with some aid."

Ali Hamza and his family stand in Toronto's Pearson International airport at the Turkish airlines gate on their way to Turkey. (Courtesy of Ali Hamza)

Hamza tells Tremonti his car is being auctioned to help put money towards the supplies.

As of July 16, Hamza says he's been in contact with the Canadian government.

After it was confirmed by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch that people were eating expired food and medical supplies were gone, Hamza says he asked for aid and a safe exit.

"There has been no single shipment of aid through the UN since July of last year," he insists.

Hamza says it's very painful to watchthe dire situation unfold as a Libyan-Canadian worryingfor his family.

"I'd give them every piece of my body just to have them survive this ... that's my appeal in Turkey," Hamza declares.

"I will give up a kidney. I will give up if the doctors allow part of my liver to a country that delivers water to them, and takes them to safety within Libya."

"Yes I will do that."

Listen to the full segment at the top of this web post including a look at the consequences of Libya's failed state.

This segment was produced by The Current's Karin Marley, Samira Mohyeddin and StephKampf.

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'I will give up a kidney': Canadian seeks aid for family trapped in Libyan conflict - CBC.ca

People trying to cross the Mediterranean are rescued by a Maltese NGO and the Italian Red Cross off the Libyan coast. Photograph: Andreas Solaro/AFP/Getty Images

NGOs who rescue people in the sea off Libya are encouraging the traffickers who profit from dangerous Mediterranean crossings, the head of the EU border agency Frontex has said.

Speaking to Germanys Die Welt newspaper, Fabrice Leggeri called for rescue operations to be re-evaluated and accused NGOs of ineffectively cooperating with security agencies against human traffickers.

Reopening a row with charities and leftwing groups, Leggeri said 40% of recent rescue operations at sea off the north African country were carried out by non-government organisations, making it impossible to check the origins of the migrants or their smuggling routes if the NGOs did not cooperate.

Luise Amstberg, refugee spokeswoman for the Greens in the German parliament, denounced Leggeris comments. The number of dead would be much higher without the tireless commitment of non-governmental organisations so we are indebted to these organisations, she said.

A spokesman for Mdecins Sans Frontires (MSF) said there was no evidence of a lack of cooperation.

In his interview, Leggeri said that under maritime law everyone at sea had a duty to rescue vessels and people in distress. But we must avoid supporting the business of criminal networks and traffickers in Libya through European vessels picking up migrants ever closer to the Libyan coast.

This leads traffickers to force even more migrants on to unseaworthy boats with insufficient water and fuel than in previous years.

He also claimed some NGOs cooperate poorly with EU security agencies, which makes it more difficult ... to gain information on trafficking networks through interviews with migrants and to open police investigations.

MSF labelled the charges extremely serious and damaging and said its humanitarian action was not the cause but a response to the crisis.

The UN has said nightmarish conditions in Libya are helping to drive a surge in the numbers of migrants attempting to reach Italy in the depths of winter.

European efforts to close the route are also thought to be behind a 30-40% increase in the number of mainly African migrants who have landed at Italian ports in the first two months of this year, compared with the same period in 2015 and 2016.

More than 2,700 people have been rescued in recent days, including a newborn delivered on a Norwegian police vessel, lifting the total arrivals for January and February above 12,000.

Also speaking to Die Welt, the new president of the European parliament, Antonio Tajani, proposed the EU should set up reception centres for asylum seekers in Libya, taking over the role currently played by smugglers and the state.

Tajani warned that unless Europe acts now 20 million African people will come to Europe over the next few years.

The proposed Libyan detention centres should not become concentration camps but should have adequate equipment to ensure refugees live in dignified conditions with access to sufficient medical care, Tajani added.

Conditions in more than 30 existing detention centres, both those run illegally by smugglers and by militias nominally on behalf of the Libyan ministry of justice, violate human rights conditions, the EU has said.

A leaked report from the EU external action service describes Libyan border management as in a state of complete disarray and unable to combat smuggling, adding smuggling is a low risk, high value source of income for organised crime.

Echoing the report, Leggeri added: There is no stable state. At present, we have virtually no contact at the operational level in order to promote effective border protection. We are now helping to train 60 officers of a possibly future Libyan coastguard. But this is at most a beginning.

He said work to train a Libyan coastguard to operate inside Libyan waters had only just begun. Overseas vessels are forbidden from operating in Libyan waters, and cannot send back refugees rescued in international waters.

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NGO rescues off Libya encourage traffickers, says EU borders chief - The Guardian