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Tag: Libya

  • Video, Photos: 17 Nigerian migrants sue Italy for returning them to Libya

    Video, Photos: 17 Nigerian migrants sue Italy for returning them to Libya

    Seventeen Nigerian migrants who survived a deadly sea crossing last year have filed a lawsuit against Italy for violating their rights by supporting Libya’s efforts to return them to North Africa, their lawyers said on Tuesday.

    The plaintiffs, two of whom have returned to Nigeria, petitioned the European Court of Human Rights last week, Violeta Moreno-Lax, a legal advisor for the Global Legal Action Network, told reporters. She was among four lawyers and several humanitarian groups involved in the case.

    The migrants, who were not identified, said Italy violated multiple articles of the European Convention on Human Rights, including that people not be subjected to torture, held in slavery, or have their lives put in danger.

    Italy bound Nigerian immigrants: taken from the video on the day of their rescue on 6 November 2017

    (Watch the video of the Nigerians on 6 November 2017: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vro7f_LkXWw

    The United Nations, rights groups and news organizations say migrants face these conditions in Libya.

    According to Global Action Network, on 6 November 2017, the Libyan Coast Guard interfered with the efforts of the NGO vessel Sea-Watch 3 to rescue 130 migrants from a sinking dinghy. At least twenty of them died.

    The Libyan vessel was donated by Italy a few months before. The intervention was partly coordinated from Rome by the Maritime Rescue and Coordination Centre (MRCC), an Italian Government agency. An Italian navy ship was nearby, part of the Mare Sicuro operation which has operated in Libyan territorial waters facilitating interceptions by the Coast Guard.

    The Libyan Coast Guard ‘pulled back’ the survivors to Libya, where they endured detention in inhumane conditions, beatings, extortion, starvation, and rape. Two of the survivors were subsequently ‘sold’ and tortured with electrocution.

    The two Nigerians said they were starved of even basic food and healthcare, before returning to Nigeria with the International Organization for Migration.

    All the plaintiffs were rescued at sea, but at least 20 migrants drowned when a part of their rubber boat deflated.

    German humanitarian ship Sea Watch 3 rescued 59 people that day and collected the body of a small child, all of whom were brought to Italy.

    The Libyan naval vessel, which had been donated by Italy and was operated mainly by a crew trained by the EU, returned 47 to Libya. In a video shot by Sea Watch, the Libyans are seen beating the migrants they intercepted with a rope, and the vessel then speeds off with a man clinging to the side.

    This is the first lawsuit to be filed against Italy for its decision to back the Libyan Coast Guard. The country lost a case in the same court in 2012 for directly handing over migrants intercepted at sea to Libyan authorities.

    The legal process can take up to three years but should the migrants win they can be awarded damages, and Italy would be forced to abandon its policy of equipping, training and coordinating the Libyan Coast Guard, Moreno-Lax said.

    “Using the Libyan Coast Guard as a proxy to turn back migrant boats is just a new way of camouflaging (Italy’s) strategy of fighting irregular migration in the Mediterranean by trapping them in what the Italian Foreign Ministry itself has qualified as ‘the hell’ of Libya,” Moreno-Lax said.

    Here is yet another cross section of the Nigerian immigrants rescued on 6 November on Libyan waters

    The lawsuit highlights a stand-off between humanitarian groups seeking to save lives on the open seas and Italian authorities backed by the European Union who are trying to stop people from making the dangerous crossing in the first place.

    Video, Photos: 17 Nigerian migrants sue Italy for returning them to Libya

    A spokesman for Italy’s Interior Ministry, which has spearheaded the policy, had no immediate comment.

    Libyan naval spokesman Ayoub Qassem said the coast guard does its job within the terms agreed with Italy.

    “Regarding the abuse and violations against the migrants, these are all considered as individual acts … We can’t say Libyan state institutions commit these acts,” Qassem said.

     

    SEA CROSSINGS DOWN

    Italy has supplied Libya with seven refurbished vessels so far, and three more have been promised, while the EU has trained about 190 Libyan coastguards.

    Italy is also coordinating communications with the Libyan Coast Guard about possible boats in distress, according to court documents filed recently in Sicily.

    Between 2014 and 2017, more than 600,000 migrants arrived on Italian shores, but crossings have fallen dramatically since Italy and Libya signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at stemming the migration flow in February of last year.

    During the first five months of this year, arrivals from Libya fell more than 80 percent versus last year to 6,700 during, official data show. Over the same period, the Libyan Coast Guard intercepted almost 6,000 migrants and refugees. In 2017, the Libyans turned back almost 19,000.

  • Obaseki lauds Oba of Benin’s salary support for Libya returnees

    Governor of Edo State, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has hailed the magnanimity of the Oba of Benin, Omo N’ Oba N’ Edo Uku Akpolokpolo, Oba Ewaure II, for placing some returnees from Libya on salary, noting that the gesture was a landmark effort in rehabilitating the returnees.

    The governor, in a statement, said that the gesture shows Oba Ewuare II’s commitment to seeing that the youths, who have returned home from treacherous sojourn overseas, are catered for and protected from the vagaries of idleness.

    According to the governor, “I commend the Oba’s support for the returnees. This has shown that the Oba is not just committed to ensuring that our youths break loose from the grip of human trafficking, but that those who survived the hellish experience in Libya are catered for and do not have any reasons whatsoever to go back to their vomit.”

    Noting that the Oba Ewaure II’s gesture came at a time the returnees need to be assured that they were not left in the lurch, Obaseki said, “This gesture came at the right time and will further complement the state government’s efforts to rehabilitate the returnees and reintegrate them into society. We are delighted and appreciate the Oba’s support since the onset of the recent campaign to stem the tide of illegal migration and human trafficking.”

    The governor said much as the Oba of Benin is to be commended for the gesture, it was imperative to use the opportunity to call on philanthropists, wealthy Edo businessmen and others to support the campaign by also providing such palliative measure in rehabilitating the returnees.

    “We, at this juncture, want to call on our illustrious sons and daughters to join in this campaign and help our brothers and sisters as they settle back into society. The Oba’s gesture is a clarion call to all. Much as the state government is committing resources to make this happen, we are certain that this cause could do with more hands. This will help build structures and institutions to stem the tide of the menace and restore our ethos and pride as a people,” Obaseki said.

     

  • Oba of Benin places Libya returnees on salaries

    The Oba of Benin, Oba Ewuare II, has placed each returnee from Libya, on three months salaries.

    A statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Desmond Agbama, on Thursday said Oba Ewuare, announced this when he hosted to Libyan returnees in his palace.

    Apart from the allowances, the Oba said the Oba Ewuare Foundation would provide the necessary tools/facilities for those who had gone through the various skills acquisition programmes.

    He expressed disappointment over the mentality of the Nigerian youth, with the quest to make quick money without legitimate means, noting that youths must embrace agriculture and other legal businesses to excel.

    The statement said the monarch frowned at the attitude of some parents who encouraged illegal migration via sea and desert, stressing that the palace would employ all traditional means to eradicate the scourge.

    Oba Ewuare, who was full of praises for ancestors and for steps taken so far to curb the menace of human trafficking and wave of crime in the state, called for concerted efforts of all to win the fight against the inhuman acts.

    Earlier, the leader of the returnees, Mr Vincent David, told Omo N’Oba that they were at the palace to seek assistance for tools to enable them start up lives after acquiring the necessary skills from the government.

    The returnees further praised Oba Ewuare for deploying traditional means to rescue trafficked victims from their slave masters.

    The monarch further promised to assist all the trafficked victims to begin better lives.

     

  • 611 Nigerians voluntarily return from Libya in March

    The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) on Wednesday said a total of 611 Nigerians had voluntarily returned from Libya in March.

    The South West Zonal Coordinator of NEMA, Alhaji Yakubu Suleiman, made the disclosure while receiving a new set of 166 returnees who arrived from the volatile North African country.

    Suleiman noted that the Nigerians were assisted back to the country by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and the European Union (EU).

    He said the Federal Government, some state governments and the IOM had set up various schemes to rehabilitate and reintegrate the returnees back into the society.

    Suleiman urged the returnees to focus on the task of getting back on their feet and contributing their quota to national development.

    “You have seen it all and you are in the best position to sensitise and create awareness against the evils of human trafficking, as you have seen the dangers of seeking greener pastures in foreign lands, ” he said.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the returnees arrived aboard a chartered Nouvelair Airbus aircraft with registration number TS-INA.

    The aircraft landed at 8.08pm at the Cargo Wing of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.

    The returnees comprised 101 male adults, two male children, 56 female adults, three female children and
    four female infants.

    Officials of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) , the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and the Police were also on hand to receive them.

  • FG negotiating release of Nigerians in Libya’s slave camps – Onyeama

    The Federal Government says it is working with Libyan Authority to negotiate the release of all Nigerians in Libya slave camps and ensure their repatriation safely to the country.

    Foreign Affairs Minister, Geoffrey Onyeama told newsmen on Tuesday in Abuja that negotiations were ongoing with some of the militia groups controlling some camps who were demanding money to allow access to their camps.

    The minister said he had a meeting with the outgoing Libyan Ambassador to Nigeria, Dr Attai Alkhoder, who promised his country’s cooperation to ensure the release of Nigerians in the slave camps.

    He said the federal government was working relentlessly to ensure that all Nigerians in Libya slave camps were repatriated safely to the country.

    “I met with the Libyan ambassador who promised to cooperate on the issue of migrants; I let him know that we appreciate what Libya is doing.

    “We agreed on way forward, that the Libya government will continue to help us to access those camps where there are still Nigerians outside the control of the Libyan government,” he said.

    Onyeama stressed that the efforts required negotiations with the militia groups who were in control of the camps.

    “We have been given some amount that we have to pay to those rebels before we can get our people out, but it has not been easy.

    “There is an instance that it has to be negotiated down to 2,500 dollars per camp to get Nigerians out. There is another camp that we have to negotiate around that figure also,’’ he said.

    The Minister, however, said that not all Nigerians in Libya were irregular migrants, adding that there were some who were living legally in Libya.

    “There are Nigerians who are actually in Libya legally and are doing their legitimate jobs and we have some of them who are actually useful in helping us to look for Nigerians in the country,” he said.

    The minister said that Nigeria would want to work towards ensuring that peace returned to Libya and that country has a central government and police central authority.

    “When a central authority is in control that is when it will be easier to relate with the country and address some of the problems they are having with regards to irregular migrants,’’ he said.

    Onyeama said the outgoing ambassador assured that he would support Nigeria in ensuring that irregular migrants were safely repatriated.

    He said the envoy also stressed on the need for improved bilateral relations between both countries.

  • Four pregnant women, 140 other Nigerians return from Libya

    Four pregnant women, 140 other Nigerians return from Libya

    No fewer than 144 Nigerians, which included four pregnant women, were on Thursday repatriated from Libya with the assistance of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and the European Union (EU).

    The returnees arrived at the Cargo Wing of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos at 10.30 pm.

    They returned aboard a chartered Airbus 320 with registration number LZ-MDI operated by VIA Airways.

    The returnees comprised 54 adult females — four of whom were pregnant — and seven female children as well as 79 adult males and four male children.

    The South West Zonal Coordinator of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Alhaji Suleiman Yakubu, received the returnees on behalf of Federal Government.

    Also on hand to receive them were officials of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) , the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) , Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and the Police.

    The returnees were each given £100 to settle down in Nigeria, while some state governments assisted them with transport back home.

    Telecommunications company, Airtel, in collaboration with the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Diaspora and Foreign Affairs, also gave the returnees free mobile phone handsets and SIM cards to facilitate their reintegration.

    In 2017, 6,806 Nigerians were brought back from Libya with the efforts of the IOM and EU.

    The Nigerians had been stranded in the volatile North African country enroute Europe, with many being subjected to abuse.

  • Why global money-laundering watchdog removed Libya from terror-financing watch list

    The international Financial Action Task Force (FATF) lifted Libya from the list of countries unable to fight money laundering and terrorism financing, the Central Bank of Libya said in a statement.

    “A major achievement was made with a decision issued by the FATF, after Libya was included in the list of states subject to follow-up with respect to ability to apply standards and obligations to combat money-laundering and terrorism financing crimes,” the bank said.

    The Bank stressed that this “achievement means FATF’s approval to Libya complying with all the requirements and obligations to combat money laundering and terrorism financing crimes, in accordance with international standards.

    “The approval also positively reflects the reputation of the Libyan state and enhances the confidence of international financial and economic institutions in the Libyan financial and banking institutions.”

    FATF is an intergovernmental organisation established in 1989 in France to develop policies to combat money laundering and terrorism financing internationally.

     

  • 2,114 Nigerians evacuated from Libya in 48 days – NAPTIP

    2,114 Nigerians evacuated from Libya in 48 days – NAPTIP

    The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) said on Saturday 2,114 Nigerians living in Libya had been brought back to the country from January till date.

    The Head, Press and Public Relations of NAPTIP, Mr. Josiah Emerole, disclosed this in a statement in Abuja.

    Emerole quoted the Director-General of the agency, Ms Julie Okah-Donli, as saying this at a lecture delivered at the University of Benin as part of activities marking the 60th birthday of businessman, Capt. Idahosa Okunbo.

    Okah-Donli delivered a lecture on Youth Migration, Deportation and Rehabilitation: The Way Forward, under the theme: ‘Youth Migration, Consequences and Current Realities.”

    She appealed to public spirited individuals and corporate bodies to assist government agencies to make the reintegration of the returnees easier.

    The director-general called for a holistic approach by the countries of origin and their destination counterparts in tackling the migration problems across the world.

    She advised Nigerian youths not to be desperate to leave the country at all cost.

    The NAPTIP chief said the criminal trafficking gangs were lurking all over the place to deceive the youths and eventually make them personal economic tools abroad.

    She said: “There is need for government at all levels to come up with transformation programmes and a National Orientation and Reorientation programme that will change people’s attitude to migration.

    “Without this, an attitude crisis will be another major driving force for illegal migration and something fundamental must be done to control and contain the illegal movement of people out of the countries.

    “A crucial step forward is to help re-educate the average Nigerian youth to make them realise that they can actualise their potentials and dreams at home.

    “They should know that they are not poorer than their contemporaries abroad or in the country they want to migrate.’’

     

  • Buhari, Obaseki meet in Abuja; discuss human trafficking, welfare of Libyan returnees

    Buhari, Obaseki meet in Abuja; discuss human trafficking, welfare of Libyan returnees

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday hosted Godwin Obaseki of Edo State, at the presidential villa Abuja where they discussed human trafficking and what to do with Nigerians who were recently rescued from slavery in Libya.

    Shortly after emerging from the meeting, Mr. Obaseki, in a brief chat with reporters, said Friday’s meeting was his first with Mr. Buhari since he assumed office as governor of Edo state in November 2016.

    “I have not seen the president officially since I became the governor of a Edo State, so I came to pay him a proper visit and to pledge our support particularly since he got back home from his medical leave and the family accident, so I used the opportunity to felicitate with him and to wish him well,” he said.

    The governor also said he discussed “two critical issues” with Mr. Buhari.

    The first, he said, “is the issue of human trafficking and irregular migration”.

    “As you know it is a problem with Edo which we have accepted and we have rolled out our strategies to deal with them and we want to work with the federal government and other agencies of government to end this scourge of human trafficking and modern slavery.

    “It is against the ethos of humanity for us to accept what is going on with our young people today.”

    He said he took advantage of the meeting with the president to tell him what the state government was doing about the problem and to seek the support of the federal government.

    Mr. Obaseki also spoke about reports of some persons recently brought back to the country who complained about the stipend given to them upon their return.

    “That is part of the challenge. The issues are very complex. The first set that were brought back by International Organization for Migration (IOM) were given stipend but the last wave of returnees that were repatriated, nothing was given to them and they were a bit agitated.

    “What we have done in Edo is to help returnees settle and be reintegrated back to their families and we give them stipend for three months.

    “So what we have done this time around is to bring them to Benin city and then give them the first stipend to go back home and then be able to attend the skills acquisition centres which we have set up to train them,” he said.

    Meanwhile, the Nigerian government has also said it would provide educational support to victims of human trafficking especially those who recently returned to the country.

    The Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu gave the assurance while exchanging views on rehabilitation strategies of deported illegal migrants with the Edo Governor who also visited him in Abuja.

    In a statement the ministry of issued on Friday, Mr. Adamu promised to render help “beyond the request of the Governor in order to curtail the migration crisis by advancing the educational levels of all the victims.”

    The minister advised Governor Obaseki to make a formal request to the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, TETFund, for special interventions from the state’s tertiary institutions to be used to actualise his (Obaseki) plans.

    Similarly, the governor, who has been active in the area of providing succour to the returnees especially those from his state appealed to the minister to consider “special help” for the state to upgrade its three colleges of education and the polytechnics to be used to train such persons.

    The governor said his government’s research reviewed that most of the deported migrants and trafficked persons are of low academic levels, adding that equipping them with better education and skills will enhance their orientations and lifestyle.

    He said his state will meet up with any criteria that would qualify the designated tertiary institutions to merit Tetfund interventions.

    Nigeria in recent weeks has witnessed the massive return of its citizens from across the globe, many deported from Libya.

  • 4th batch of 465 Nigerian returnees arrive Port Harcourt – Official

    4th batch of 465 Nigerian returnees arrive Port Harcourt – Official

    The fourth batch of 465 Nigerian returnees from Libya have arrived Port Harcourt, Mr Martins Ejike, South-South Zonal Coordinator, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said.

    Ejike who received the returnees on Friday, told news that they arrived Port Harcourt International Airport
    at about 12.25 a.m. on board Max Air.

    Ejike told newsmen that the evacuation of Nigerian’s stranded in Lybia had been a huge success in spite of some challenges and hitches met at Lybia during the negotiations of the evacuations.

    He said that Federal government had put every mechanism in place to fast track the evacuation of
    the returnees.

    The Coordinator said that every process needed for the evacuation was taking place step by step.

    He expressed joy over the response of States in picking up their indegens at the evacuation center after the complain of dissatisfaction over not picking their indigenes on time.

    “I am happy that the last set of returnees at the centre were all taken back to there various states on Jan. 15,” he said.

    He said the agency would contact state governors of the returnees, for prompi evacuation from the Port Harcourt centre.

    Also, Mr Muhammad Dahiru, the Public relations Officer Max Air said that the evacuation of the returnees from Libya, was hitch free.

    “Actually we did not have any security challenges in Libya.

    “We landed in Lybia about 7.30 and spent only one hour 30 minutes before we took off from there back to Nigeria,” Dahiru said.

    He said that so far, 1,955 returnees have been brought back to Nigeria by Max Air out of the 3,138 expected to be brought back to Nigeria through Max Air.

    “I can assure you that we can bring all the returnees back to Nigeria within 48 hours if we are invited to come and carry them, “Dahiru said.

    Osita John, one of the returnees thanked the Federal Government for rescuing them and fufilling her promise of bringing them back home.

    John said that his experience in Lybia was horrible and unforgettable.

    He advised Nigeria youths who are nursing the idea of travelling out of the country through illegal means to drop it.

    John called on Federal government to continue with the evacuation to save many youths that were still in different prisons in Lybia.

    “There is no place like home but I beg our leaders to make Nigeria a better place for us the youths live,” he said.

    NAN reports that the federal government has identified 5,000 Nigerians currently trapped in Libyan detention camps.

    The Federal Government needs to have a budget for the entertainment sector- Alexx Ekubo