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 | UNICEF
Syria: Tragedy ‘at every step’ as millions of children face landmine threat – UNICEF
In Syria, landmines and other explosives left over from years of conflict present an ever more lethal threat to children, accounting for over 100 child deaths and injuries last month alone, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | WMO , WHO
LA wildfires: Climate change made the disaster worse says WMO
The powerful dry winds and tinderbox conditions that have been fuelling the continuing Los Angeles wildfire tragedy have been made worse by climate change, the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Nada Al-Nashif on Wednesday updated the Human Rights Council on the human rights situation in Ukraine, outlining the findings of OHCHR’s latest periodic report covering 1st September to 30th November 2024.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
“We are deeply troubled by the marked increase in executions in Iran last year. At least 901 people were reportedly executed in 2024, including some 40 in one week alone in December. At least 853 people were executed in 2023,” Liz Throssell, a spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, told the UN bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
Avian flu risk still ‘low’ after first US patient dies – WHO
A day after the United States reported its first human death from avian flu, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) insisted that the risk to the general population remains “low”.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
The appointment on Thursday of Karla Quintana as head of the Independent Institution on Missing Persons in the Syrian Arab Republic is a key development after nearly a year and a half of work by the UN Human Rights Office supporting the institution’s launch.
1
1
1
Edited News | IOM , UNICEF , UNRWA , WHO
The head of the UN migration agency stressed on Friday that Syria is in no position to take back millions of Syrians following the fall of the Assad regime, while there is an urgent need to “re-evaluate” sanctions impacting the war-ravaged country.
1
1
1
Edited News | IIIM , UNHCR
Syria: ‘Key priority’ is to preserve evidence of crimes – UN investigators
In Syria, new access to evidence of horrific human rights violations means that accountability may be closer than ever – if only proof can be preserved, a top UN investigator said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OSE , ICRC , UNHCR
Syria: UN and partners urge action to preserve evidence of prison atrocities, stabilize country
Since the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria five days ago, hundreds of people have rushed to Saydnaya prison, desperate to find loved ones. Disturbing images from the prison and other detention centers have since surfaced, exposing the “unimaginable barbarity Syrians have endured for years,” said Jenifer Fenton, spokesperson for the UN special envoy for Syria, on Friday.
1
1
2
Edited News | UNRWA
Gaza: “Sickening normalisation” of suffering, amid attacks on people and aid convoys
Ongoing military operations by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) in Gaza continue to devastate Palestinian children and families, with mounting casualties and a critical lack of humanitarian aid for the desperate population.
“Local media reporting here that last night, 30 people were killed in this area in strikes” said a senior emergency officer with the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), Louise Wateridge, speaking to reporters in Geneva from central Gaza.
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | OHCHR
Rights experts call for end to impunity for Israel’s violations of international law
Four independent human rights experts have jointly called for the international community to sanction Israel’s conduct of hostilities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory as well as in the wider Middle East region - including in Syria, Lebanon and Iran. They also called for the restoration of trust in the international justice system through the abandonment of “extreme interpretations” and “double standards” in the application of the universal norms regulating the conduct of war.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNHCR
Syria: needs continue to grow amid highly uncertain situation, say aid teams
The historic power shift in Syria and the still volatile situation two days after the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime have increased humanitarian needs in a country where nearly 17 million people, including millions of internally displaced, already depended on humanitarian aid before the recent events, UN aid teams said on Tuesday.