Libya launches help groups charged with “African” conspiracy of population

The Libyan authorities have accused groups of help for planning to change the ethnic composition of the country by encouraging African migrants to stay there and order them to close their offices.

Ten groups are separated – including doctors without borders, the UN Refugee Agency and the Norwegian Refugee Council.

“This plan for the settlement of migrants of African origin in our country is a hostile act. It aims to change the demographic composition of the country and threatens the balance of Libyan society,” said Salm Gate internal security spokesman on Thursday.

This echoing A similar message made by Tunisia two years agowho was quickly condemned as an anti-black racism.

Both countries sit on the Mediterranean coast and are key transit points for African migrants passing the sea to Europe.

Following the overthrow of Libya leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, there was a breakdown in the government, allowing armed militia and human traffic to spread.

The country is divided into two, each managed by a rival administration.

Police officers are charged with running centers where migrants are beaten to death or starving, and The Libyan Coast Guard is accused of sometimes shooting people in the sea instead of saving themS The Libyan authorities have not commented on these accusations.

The order of Thursday to expel the help groups was made by an internationally recognized government with headquarters in the capital Tripoli.

Doctors without borders (MSF) stopped working in Libya a week ago, describing a campaign to harass the Libyan authorities, “calling and questioning the staff of international NGOs” since mid -March.

“Our organization is very concerned about the consequences that these orders will have about the health of patients and the safety of humanitarian workers,” a statement sent to the BBC said.

In response to the message on Thursday, the UN refugee agency (UNCBA) defended its work by telling the BBC that the people he was helping were not “migrants” but refugees in a sharp need.

It is also said that it operates the consent of the Tripoli government.

“We are in contact with the authorities in Libya and follow them to seek clarity. The VKBON has been operating in Libya for more than 30 years, providing humanitarian assistance to refugees seeking asylum and vulnerable Libyan communities,” the BBC spokesman said.

One of the allegations made by Libya’s international security body against the 10 aid groups is that they support “illegal migrants by providing them with food, clothing and medicine that encourage these migrants to look at Libya for a final destination, not a transit country.” But many say they do not want to stay in the country.

For years, African migrants from Subsahara have been abused by severe rights and dehumanizing treatment in Libya – including being killed., enslavedor repeatedly raped.

“He called me” disgusting black. “He raped me and said,” Women were made for that. ” Sudanese refugee, traffic in Libya, told the BBC This year for a man who had offered her to work, cleaning his house.

“Even the children here are evil to us, they treat us as beasts and wizards. They offend us that we are black and African, aren’t they Africans ourselves?”