Skip to content
Political Economist

Political Economist

A liberal News reporting Politics, Sports, Business, Commentaries

  • Home
  • National News
    • Metro News
      • metro
    • Society
    • Politics
    • Crime and Justice
  • Special Reports
    • Investigation
    • Features
    • Interviews
  • Opinion
    • Business & Economy
    • Commentaries
    • Perspectives
  • Press Releases
  • International News
Watch Online
  • Home
  • International News
  • New migrants moved to Libya detention centre hit by deadly air strike
  • International News

New migrants moved to Libya detention centre hit by deadly air strike

Admin July 14, 2019

Migrants being detained in Libya

More migrants have been moved to a detention center in Libya’s capital where an air strike killed more than 50 last week, despite a risk it could be hit again which led to survivors being evacuated, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said on Friday.

Around 95 migrants were moved to the Tajoura center in Tripoli on Thursday, some rounded up in the local community and others transferred from another detention center in the city, the aid group said.

Earlier in the week migrants left at the center after the July 3 bombing — some of whom were sleeping in the open for fear of another strike — were either released or evacuated, following appeals from the United Nations.

An official at the Tajoura center who asked not to be named said that following the evacuations, “we have resumed work and started receiving more (migrants)”. He declined to give more details.

The center was hit as forces loyal to eastern-based commander Khalifa Haftar intensified their efforts to wrest control of Tripoli from forces aligned with the internationally recognized government, which is based in the capital.

The fighting is the latest escalation in a conflict that developed after former leader Muammar Gaddafi was toppled in a NATO-backed uprising in 2011.

People smugglers exploited the turmoil to send hundreds of thousands of migrants on dangerous journeys across the central Mediterranean, though the number of crossings dropped sharply from 2017 amid an EU-backed push to block departures.

Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA) launched an offensive on Tripoli in early April, which soon stalled. The fighting has left more than 1,000 dead, including more than 100 civilians, according to the World Health Organization.

Migrant detention centers are nominally under the government but often controlled by armed groups. Aid workers and rights groups say abuse including beating and forced labor is rife, and have long appealed for their closure.

But the centers have continued to operate, repeatedly caught in the crossfire of fighting whilst receiving new arrivals from boats intercepted by Libya’s EU-backed coastguard. The Tajoura center, which is next to a miliary camp, was also hit by a projectile in May.

The United Nations said last week it had information that guards had shot at migrants at Tajoura as they tried to flee the air strike. The interior ministry in Tripoli denied the report.

This week, 419 migrants, including around 90 who had just been intercepted at sea, left the Tajoura center for a facility run by the U.N. refugee agency. It tries to evacuate refugees and asylum seekers from Libya, though the process is slow.

Sam Turner, MSF’s Libya head of mission, said it was an “outstanding contradiction” for migrants to be released from the center in recognition that it was not safe, only for more to be brought in days later.

“The Tajoura detention center does pose a very high risk of being targeted as part of the wider conflict, in addition to the risks that refugees and migrants are exposed to by the conflict in general and by the conditions of detention,” he said.

  • Facebook
  • Share on X
  • LinkedIn
  • WhatsApp
  • Email
  • Copy Link
Tags: EU LNA MSF Muammar Gaddafi NATO

Post navigation

Previous Insurgency: African continent must step up the level of military cooperation that currently exists – Buhari
Next Combating climate change: LASG to re-launch ‘One House, One Tree’ Campaign soon

Related Stories

Microsoft outage hits Outlook, Teams and Copilot worldwide Microsoft
  • International News

Microsoft outage hits Outlook, Teams and Copilot worldwide

November 13, 2026
History in New Jersey: Nigerian-Born Lawyer Shirley Emehelu Sworn In as Lieutenant Governor
  • International News

History in New Jersey: Nigerian-Born Lawyer Shirley Emehelu Sworn In as Lieutenant Governor

November 11, 2026
Top 11 ‘Firsts’ about US midterm elections: First open gay, first black governor, others
  • International News

Top 11 ‘Firsts’ about US midterm elections: First open gay, first black governor, others

November 4, 2026

You may have missed

NNPCL receives C-of-O for Edo Refinery; Okpebholo lists benefits 
  • Business & Economy

NNPCL receives C-of-O for Edo Refinery; Okpebholo lists benefits 

November 14, 2026
FCCPC Seals Abuja Real Estate Firm Over Undelivered N140m Duplex
  • National News

FCCPC Seals Abuja Real Estate Firm Over Undelivered N140m Duplex

November 13, 2026
Court Admits Supreme Court Judgment on Forfeited Properties in Emefiele’s $4.5bn Trial FG vs ASUU
  • National News

Court Admits Supreme Court Judgment on Forfeited Properties in Emefiele’s $4.5bn Trial

November 13, 2026
Ebola: 62 contacts complete monitoring without secondary transmission federal capital territory
  • National News

Ebola: 62 contacts complete monitoring without secondary transmission

November 13, 2026
  • Home
  • National News
    • Metro News
      • metro
    • Society
    • Politics
    • Crime and Justice
  • Special Reports
    • Investigation
    • Features
    • Interviews
  • Opinion
    • Business & Economy
    • Commentaries
    • Perspectives
  • Press Releases
  • International News
Copyright © All rights reserved. | DarkNews by AF themes.