Tripoli
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on Tuesday said it secured the release of 141 refugees from detention in western Libya.
“UNHCR secured last week the release from detention of 141 refugee men, women and children,” the UN agency said.
“They were held at Suq Alkhamees detention center, 140 km East of Tripoli, some of them for over a year. UNHCR provided them with relief items, food packages and medical check ups,” it said.
Thousands of illegal immigrants, mostly Africans, chose to cross the Mediterranean from Libya towards Europe, due to the state of insecurity and chaos in the North African nation following the overthrow of former leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.
Immigrant shelters in Libya are crowded with thousands of immigrants either rescued from the sea or arrested by the Libyan security forces, despite international calls to close those centers.
The agency said that there are 45,661 registered refugees and asylum-seekers currently in Libya.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) on Tuesday said it is supporting access to water in Sabha, Libya’s largest southern city, by drilling a number of water wells.
“The Municipality of Sabha, south of Libya, is in an arid and water scarce part of Libya. IOM is improving the local community’s access to water by drilling new wells across various sites in the city and connecting them to the water network,” IOM said. “IOM has drilled eight water wells in Sabha and handed them to the local authorities. The drilling of five more wells is underway,” the organization added.
In order to ensure regular power supply to sustain the wells through the many long power cuts experienced in the area, IOM said it will install a power generator for each of the sites.
The project is funded by the European Union, IOM said. Due to years of instability and escalating violence, Libyan authorities are struggling to provide basic services to the people, particularly in southern Libya.
Libya has been plagued by a state of political division and chaos since NATO-led coalition forces toppled Libya’s late leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.
