Libyan security authorities forcibly removed 79 refugees and migrants Tuesday from the Panama-flagged cargo ship ‘Nivin’ in the Libyan port of Misrata, after they refused to leave the ship for 10 days. The incident has risen reactions from humanitarian bodies, as there are reports of injuries and use of rubber bullets and tear gas.
The RoRo Nivin, with Panamanian flag, rescued, last week, 81 maritime migrants but 79 of them refuse to disembark from the ship off the coast of Misrata in Libya. The migrants refuse to disembark in Misrata as a result of the fear of being sent back to Libyan detention camps.
This week on Tuesday, 20 November, Libyan authorities on Tuesday forcibly forcibly removed the 79 migrants and asylum seekers who had refused to leave the ship that rescued them. According to the UN, the group includes Ethiopian, Eritrean, Somali, South Sudanese, Pakistani, and Bangladeshi nationals.
With rubber bullets and tear gases, a joint force raided the cargo ship forced more than 90 out of the ship as it was said by the commander of the central region coastguards, Tawfiq Esskair, according to Reuters.
The commander of the central region coastguards agreed that some people had been injured during the disembarkation, but they were now in good condition after treatment in hospital, and all had been taken to a detention center in the city, as he told Reuters by phone.
On the othe hand, he UNHCR, on a report regarding the incident, stated that the humanitarian community is saddened by the turn of events in Misrata and the reports that some of the people onboard were injured during the forced disembarkation.
The humanitarian community calls for alternatives to detention to be implemented in Libya and for the transfer of individuals from disembarkation points to appropriate reception facilities for assistance, screening and solutions.
The United Nations and Human Rights Watch (HRW) added in the report and put the number of disembarked migrants at 79.
