The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the man was among more than 100 migrants due to be sent back to detention when shots were fired in the air on Thursday.
IOM spokesperson Safa Msheli said today (20 Sep), “the tragedy occurred at Abusitta disembarkation point in Tripoli as many of the 103 migrants returned to shore were resisting being sent back to detention centres.”
Speaking to journalists in Geneva, she explained that the migrant was wounded in the stomach and “despite immediately receiving medical aid on the spot by an IOM doctor and then being transferred to a nearby clinic, he died two hours after admission.”
The identity of those doing the shooting at Abusitta, which is in a military facility, remains unconfirmed.
Msheli said, “IOM staff, who were on the scene to provide aid to migrants, report that armed men began shooting in the air when several migrants tried to run away from their guards,” adding that “the use of live bullets against unarmed vulnerable civilians, men, women and children alike, is unacceptable under any circumstances.”
Some 5,000 migrant women, children and men are still detained in Libya in conditions described as “inhumane” by IOM.
More than 3,000 are held in areas of active conflict which continues to worsen in southern Tripoli, amid ongoing clashes between the UN-recognised Government and forces loyal to Khalifa Haftar, the UN agency warned.
The development also comes two months after scores of migrants and refugees died in an airstrike on Tajoura detention centre in a suburb of the Libyan capital.
According to one report at the time, a cell was hit containing more than 120 people, some of the more than 600 men, women and children being held at the centre.
Echoing IOM’s condemnation of the latest incident, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) repeated its belief that Libya cannot provide sanctuary for vulnerable people displaced by conflict, natural disaster or persecution.
spokesperson Charlie Yaxley said, “UNCHR condemns this utterly deplorable act. It is now irrefutably clear the refugees and migrants most not be returned to Libya after being rescued at sea,” adding that “it cannot be considered a safe port and at the same time, far greater efforts are needed to provide safe, alternative pathways to asylum so refugees don’t feel so desperate that they risk their lives on these dangerous journeys in the first place.”
The UNHCR official noted that things are getting worse, not better in Libya, where armed militias have fought for control since the overthrow of President Muammar Gadaffi after an uprising in 2011.
Yaxley said, “the situation since April has deteriorated severely and increased fighting means there is a real, renewed sense of urgency about getting people out of harm’s way, out of danger and to safety.”
Latest data from IOM indicates that more than 63,000 migrants and refugees entered Europe by sea so far this year, a roughly 20 per cent decrease from the 78,372 who arrived over the same period in 2018.
Around four in five arrivals were to Greece and Spain (32,767 and 16,894, respectively), while the remainder landed in Italy, Malta and Cyprus. According to IOM, arrivals to Greece are running almost 50 per cent ahead of 2018’s totals, while arrivals to Spain are around 50 per cent lower.
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , HRC
Volker Türk, the UN Human Rights High Commissioner, made the following remarks during a briefing to a Special Session on Iran at the Human Rights Council.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNRWA , UNOPS , UNIS
Amid the launch of President Trump's Board of Peace and reconstruction talks on Gaza, UN aid agencies insisted on Friday that what Gazans need most is immediate relief from the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe there.
2
6
1
2
Edited News , Press Conferences , Images | HRC
At UN, war crimes probe pledges to continue to work for all impacted by Hamas-Israel conflict
As President Trump launched the international Board of Peace plan for Gaza on Thursday, top independent rights experts tasked by the UN Human Rights Council with investigating grave abuses linked to the Hamas-Israel war pledged to continue their work seeking justice and accountability for all.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN Human Rights Office Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said Tuesday UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk was outraged by the repeated large-scale attacks by the Russian Federation on energy infrastructure in Ukraine.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN warns against repeating abuses in South Kordofan that occurred in El Fasher.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNICEF
Mozambique floods heighten disease, malnutrition risks – UN agencies
Catastrophic flooding in Mozambique is causing massive disruption to lives and livelihoods across the country, increasing the risk of disease and exposing urban areas to crocodiles, UN humanitarians warned on Tuesday.
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | OCHA
Yemen: Children are dying and it’s going to get worse, aid veteran warns
In Yemen, renewed political instability threatens and economic woes linked to the war to complicate the already difficult task of helping vulnerable people suffering from deepening hunger, illness and displacement, the UN's top aid official there said on Monday.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF , IFRC
Ukraine: Families in ‘survival mode’ amid Russian strikes and -18°C cold
Families across Ukraine are in “constant survival mode” amid ongoing waves of Russian missile and drone strikes that have left blocks without power for days at a time, while temperatures plunge to a deadly -18°C (-0.4°F), the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) said on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
At the bi-weekly press conference in Geneva, UN Human Rights Spokesperson Jeremy Laurence urges Iranian authorities to end violent repression and calls for accountability.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF
Gaza: A ceasefire that ‘still buries children’ is not enough, says UNICEF
Airstrikes, drone strikes and hypothermia are among the lethal conditions prevailing in Gaza despite the ceasefire, with more than 100 children killed since early October, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
At the UN bi-weekly press conference in Geneva, UN Human Rights Spokesperson Marta Hurtado commented on the widespread repression and intimidation against political opposition ahead of the general elections in Uganda.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNICEF
Aid agencies marked 1,000 days of war in Sudan on Friday with a grim reminder that the conflict has created the world’s biggest hunger crisis and largest displacement emergency. Every day, civilians have been “paying the price for a war they did not choose”, said the UN aid coordination office, OCHA.