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By Libya Herald reporters.
Tunis, 21 June 2017:
The outgoing UNSMIL chief Martin Kobler has urged swift action on the deal to allow Tawerghans to return to their hometown. Misrata this week agreed that the citizens of Tawergha could go back to their ravaged town. However, Kobler cautioned today that this repatriation should be managed transparently and in full accord with human rights standards.
Misratan forces drove Tawerghans out of their town in 2011 accusing them of supporting Qaddafi’s drive to crush the Revolution in Misrata itself. Since then thousands of Tawerghans have been living in camps, mainly in Tripoli and Benghazi.
Since 2013, Tawerghan leaders have been pressing for their people to be allowed to go home. In Misrata there have continued to be factions that refuse to exonerate the Tawerghans for their perceived counter-Revutionary role and have rejected UNSMIL-brokered efforts at reconciliation.
However, this week, an agreement made in Tunis last September was finally ratified in Misrata.
Kobler hailed the move saying: “I am pleased that after six years of displacement the Tawerghans can finally return home. Ensuring that their return is safe, voluntary and unconditional must be a top priority and here the United Nations stands ready to support.”
Kobler also said that he saw the enacting of the Misratan-Tawerghan as a signpost for the rest of the country.
“This agreement” he said,“ is the first step toward developing a much-needed broader national reconciliation process, to address outstanding issues of truth-seeking, justice and reparation for all victims of war crimes and human rights violations”.
