By Libya Herald reporter.
Tunis, 10 February 2017:
UN chiefs have underlined the need to reform migrant camps in Libya as well as ensure protection for the hundreds of thousands of people displaced in Libya.
There had to be what they called “a comprehensive approach” to address the situation of migrants and refugees in Libya and to help the hundreds of thousands of Libyans displaced and impacted by the crisis in the country.
Migrants, they said, faced grave violations of human rights, including malnutrition, extortion, torture, and sexual violence.
The UN chiefs were the Director-General of the International Organisation for Migration, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and UN envoy Martin Kobler. They met today in Geneva.
They also said that migrants were held in Libya outwith legal processes describing the conditions in migrant detention centres as “inhumane.”
There had to be closer investigation of what they called the “drivers” of migrant flows – those organising and profiting from them.
The group welcomed ventures that seek to enhance the protection of migrants and prevent their deaths at sea.
Libya as well as the countries of origin, transit and destination had to be involved in addressing the crisis.
