Mixed Migration Working Group members respond to a humanitarian emergency concerning 800 refugees and migrants detained in the Zwara detention centre.
As of 18 April, about 800 refugees and migrants, largely intercepted/rescued at sea by the Libyan Coast Guard (LCG), together with other migrants and refugees taken from captivity of traffickers and smugglers, were held at the DCIM-run detention centre in Zwara (115 km west of Tripoli) in increasingly deteriorating conditions. The refugees and migrants, largely from Cameroon, Bangladesh, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Mali, Morocco, Nigeria, Pakistan, Senegal, Somalia and Sudan, who had been confined in extreme conditions for weeks, were found in urgent need of psychosocial support and suffering from lack of water, ventilation and food.
While access to Zwara remains hazardous, in coordination with the local authorities, members of the MMWG are providing emergency humanitarian assistance at the detention centre, while transferring the most vulnerable cases to Tripoli by air.
So far in 2018, 5,1091 refugees and migrants have been intercepted/rescued at sea by the LCG and disembarked in Libya (Tripoli: 3,961 individuals; Zwara: 611 individuals; Al Khums: 278 individuals; and Azzawya: 259 individuals.
Humanitarian response
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and members of the Mixed Migration Working Group (UNHCR and its partner International Medical Corps (IMC), the Danish Refugee Council (DRC), and IOM) are responding to the most pressing needs by providing immediate medical and WASH assistance, non-food items (incl. clothes, footwear, sleeping mats and blankets) and conducting an anti-scabies campaign. With extreme overcrowding and continued deprivation of adequate food and water, the humanitarian response is focussed on the immediate evacuation of the detained persons.
In response, online consular services for Nigerians commenced on 29 April, and on 30 April, IOM organized a visit for representatives from the embassies of Cameroon, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Mali, Nigeria and Senegal) who registered 355 migrants interested in the Voluntary Humanitarian Returns (VHR) program (186 remain to be registered by their home authorities). Upon issuance of their travel documents and the VHR screening process, their departure from Zwara to countries of origin will be organized next week.
On 30 April, UNHCR airlifted all 88 persons in need of international protection (from Eritrea, Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan) to Tripoli, where they receive ongoing assistance at the Tariq al Sika detention centre, and where UNHCR will identify the most vulnerable cases for evacuation abroad.
In preparation for similar situations, likely to occur during the warmer season, the MMWG is conducting a dedicated contingency/response planning workshop.
For further information, please contact:
Philippe Sacher, UNHCR MMWG Coordinator, sacher@unhcr.org, +216 29 961 248 / +218 (0)91 001 9423
Tanaz Khambatta, IOM MMWG Coordinator a.i., tkhambatta@iom.int, +216 58 601 022 / +218 (0)91 001 1492