However, Eritrean, Ethiopian, Somali and other African refugees in Libya, who are already in a vulnerable position due to societal hostility to non-Arabs, are increasingly susceptible to violent attacks.
A group of around 40 families of Eritrean refugees, including children, are currently stranded in an area close to Tripoli Airport with no means of evacuation. Italian NGO Agenzia Habeshia has appealed to the Italian government and European parliament to assist these and other African refugees who have taken refuge in the Catholic Church in Tripoli.
Being non-Arab and therefore racially distinct from the local population, African refugees have regularly faced arrest, physical and verbal abuse and harassment. Worse still for Eritrean refugees, the friendship between President Muammar Ghaddafi and President Isaias Afewerki of Eritrea, as well as Libya’s non- signatory status with regard to the UN Refugee Convention, has meant that many of them are detained in appalling conditions where they face severe mistreatment and the possibility of forcible return to Eritrea. Those forcibly returned face imprisonment, possible torture and even death at the hands of the Eritrean regime.
The situation for African refugees deteriorated further following reports of attacks on Libyan civilians by “African mercenaries”, allegedly from Niger and Chad. Although Saif al Islam, President Ghaddafi’s son, claimed on state television that illegal immigrants are responsible for inciting the current unrest, refugees report that in detention centres, the government is attempting to recruit African prisoners as mercenaries, and prison guards who object are allegedly being killed. Homes where large numbers of refugees have gathered are being attacked, and they are subject to threatening phone calls and physical assault with knives and stones as angry Libyans mistake them for mercenaries.
Yesterday the UNHCR expressed particular concern “for asylum-seekers and refugees inadvertently caught up in the violence”, appealing to all governments to grant asylum to people fleeing Libya.
CSW’s Advocacy Director Andrew Johnston said, “CSW is deeply concerned for the welfare of the refugees in Libya who are facing hostility on all sides and have no country looking out for their interests. We urge the international community, and European Union member states in particular, to consider granting temporary refuge to the 40 families with children in Tripoli and to other members of this vulnerable community until more permanent solutions can be formulated”
Somalis in Libya ‘hunted’ on suspicion of being mercenaries: UNHCR
The UN refugee service expressed alarm at how, according to reports by journalists on the ground in rapidly-destabilising Libya, Somalis in Tripoli are being hunted on suspicion of being mercenaries.
Amid the spiralling chaos that is overwhelming the North African country, there have been reports of mercenaries brought in by defiant Dictator Muammar Gaddafi in an attempt to quell the violence and cow the protestors.
In a statement, the UN refugee agency said on Tuesday in Geneva it has become “increasingly concerned” about the dangers for civilians inadvertently caught up in the mounting violence in Libya, especially asylum-seekers and refugees.
“We have no access at this time to the refugee community. Over the past months we have been trying to regularize our presence in Libya, and this has constrained our work,” Melissa Fleming, UNHCR’s chief spokesperson, told journalists in Geneva.
She added that some of the reports that UNHCR has been receiving from third-party sources were very worrying. “A journalist has passed information to us from Somalis in Tripoli who say they are being hunted on suspicion of being mercenaries. He says they feel trapped and are frightened to go out, even though there is little or no food at home,” Fleming said.
Scores of people are believed to have been killed in Libya since the government cracked down on protests that erupted against the government last week. Fighting has been continuing in the capital, Tripoli, and elsewhere.
Prior to the current unrest UNHCR had registered more than 8,000 refugees in Libya, with a further 3,000 asylum-seekers having pending cases. The main places of origin are Chad, Eritrea, Iraq, Palestine, Somalia and Sudan.
“We are calling on all neighbouring countries to welcome those arrivals from Libya who may be fleeing targeted violence and fearing for their lives,” UNHCR’s Fleming said.
