BRUSSELS: Around 15,000 African migrants will be repatriated from Libya in the next two months under an emergency plan to stop abuses there, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said Thursday.
European and African leaders announced the plan for accelerated “voluntary” deportations at a summit in Abidjan two weeks ago, but did not set a timetable for repatriating those left in Libyan government detention centers.
Mogherini, ahead of an EU summit, said the repatriations should be done by February.
“In only two months we hope and we expect to manage to assist the voluntary return of 15,000 people,” she told reporters in Brussels.
The EU and the African Union (AU) are working with the UN International Organization for Migration, and the Libyan authorities to arrange for the returns to their home countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
In the last year, 16,000 people have returned home, but EU and AU leaders agreed in Abidjan to accelerate returns following CNN television footage of a slave market in Libya, where smugglers and criminal networks act with impunity.
It provoked an international furor on top of reports of rape, torture and beatings of migrants in Libya, including in detention camps under the control of the UN-backed government of Libyan Prime Minister Fayez Al-Sarraj.
The EU faced accusations from rights groups that it created conditions for such abuses via its cooperation with Sarraj to detain migrants using Libya as a jumping board to Italy, the main entry point to Europe.
EU, UN and AU officials all admit it wil be a major challenge to repatriate or protect the 700,000 migrants in Libya, most of whom are in areas outside government control.
Amira El Fadil, the AU’s commissioner for social affairs, told the press conference the key was finding a political solution to the chaos and violence in Libya.
Mogherini, a former Italian foreign minister, said 2,000 migrants have been returned to their homes since the Abidjan summit.
The EU’s top diplomat also announced another €100 million for the multi-billion euro Africa trust fund, with the money to finance flights from Libya and to help the migrants resettle.
Mogherini said she would also ask EU member states at a summit dinner to contribute more to the trust fund.
Four eastern EU countries which have triggered criticism for refusing to admit refugees — Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Poland — announced €35 million for the trust fund to bolster the EU’s external borders and Libya’s frontiers.
15,000 migrants to exit Libya in two months, EU says
15,000 migrants to exit Libya in two months, EU says
Explosion occurs at Turkish oil refinery during drills, but no casualties are reported
Mayor Tahir Buyukakin told private NTV television that the blast occurred at the Turkish Petroleum Refineries company, Tupras, in Izmit provicince during “routine drills.”
A fire was quickly brought under control by the privately owned company’s own emergency crews and no request for help was made, he said.
Video footage from the site showed smoke rising from the refinery.
It was not immediately clear what caused the explosion.
Lebanon media reports strike on residential building south of Beirut
BEIRUT: Lebanese state media reported a strike on an apartment in the Jiyeh coastal area south of Beirut on Tuesday, more than a month into the Israel-Hezbollah war.
The official National News Agency said “a raid targeted a residential apartment in a building in the town of Jiyeh,” where an AFP correspondent said a large plume of grey smoke covered the area.
Iran says killed eight militants since attack on police in province bordering Pakistan
- Militants from the Jaish Al-Adl group killed 10 police officers during a raid in Sistan-Baluchistan province on October 26
- Sistan-Baluchistan, which straddles border with Afghanistan and Pakistan, is one of Iran’s most impoverished provinces
TEHRAN: Iran’s military has killed eight militants in an operation in the restive southeast since a deadly attack last month on a police station, state media reported Tuesday.
Militants from the Pakistan-based Jaish Al-Adl group killed 10 police officers during a raid on October 26 in Sistan-Baluchistan province — one of the deadliest attacks in the region in recent months.
Sistan-Baluchistan, which straddles the border with Afghanistan and Pakistan, is one of Iran’s most impoverished provinces.
It has long been a flashpoint for cross-border attacks by separatists and extremists, opposed to the authorities in Iran.
Revolutionary Guards commander Ahmad Shafahi said “a total of eight terrorists have been killed” since the beginning of operations in the province, according to the official IRNA news agency on Tuesday.
“Fourteen other terrorists have been arrested,” including key figures involved in the attack, he said, adding security forces seized weapons and ammunition.
Shortly after the attack in Taftan county, some 1,200 kilometers (745 miles) southeast of the capital Tehran, a report on the Tasnim news agency said four militants had been killed and four others arrested.
Late on Monday, IRNA quoted Guards ground forces commander Mohammad Pakpour as saying the attackers “were not Iranian,” though he did not specify their nationalities.
In early October, at least six people including police officers were killed in two separate attacks in the province.
Jaish Al-Adl said on Telegram they had carried out the attacks.
Formed in 2012 by Baluch separatists, the group is proscribed as a “terrorist organization” by both Iran and the United States.
Over 100 patients to be evacuated from Gaza, WHO says
- The patients will travel in a large convoy on Wednesday via the Kerem Shalom crossing
GENEVA: More than 100 patients including children suffering from trauma injuries and chronic diseases will be evacuated from Gaza on Wednesday in a rare transfer out of the war-ravaged enclave, a World Health Organization official said.
“These are ad hoc measures. What we have requested repeatedly is a sustained medevac (medical evacuation) outside of Gaza,” said Rik Peeperkorn, WHO representative for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, adding that 12,000 people were awaiting transfer.
The patients will travel in a large convoy on Wednesday via the Kerem Shalom crossing with Israel before flying to the United Arab Emirates, he added, and then a portion will travel to Romania.
Iran says two French detainees held in good conditions
- In recent years, Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards have arrested dozens of dual nationals and foreigners, mostly on charges related to espionage and security
DUBAI: Two French citizens detained in Iran since May 2022 are in good health and being held in good detention conditions, Iran’s judiciary spokesperson Asghar Jahangir said on Tuesday, according to state media.
Last month, France’s foreign ministry said the conditions that three of its nationals were being held in by Iran were unacceptable.
“According to the relevant authorities, these two people have good conditions in the detention center and are in good health, so any claim regarding their conditions being abnormal is rejected,” Jahangir said.
The spokesperson was referring to Cecile Koehler and Jacques Paris, who he said were arrested on charges of espionage and will have their next court hearing on Nov. 24.
Jahangir did not mention the third French national detained in Iran. French media have disclosed only his first name, Olivier.
In recent years, Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards have arrested dozens of dual nationals and foreigners, mostly on charges related to espionage and security.
Rights groups have accused Iran of trying to extract concessions from other countries through such arrests.
