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26 Sep 19, 391 tweets, 188 min read
@libyamatterspod Detainees in Sabaa detention centre, Tripoli, are very upset that MSF has stopped working there, apparently because of problems with the dc management. They say TB patients improved a lot under MSF & staff were kind to them. They worry they won't be given regular medication now.
@libyamatterspod 66 people (including children & a baby) have arrived as part of the first evacuation from Libya to Rwanda.
@libyamatterspod 2/ A picture of the baby girl who was among the evacuees.
@libyamatterspod At least 71 illegal migrants rescued after four days in distress at sea were brought to shore east of Tripoli on Sunday, but then fled, & no attempt was made to capture them, a navy official said. reuters.com/article/us-lib…
@libyamatterspod This comes just over a week after a Sudanese man was shot & killed while among a similar group caught at sea, who resisted going back to detention centres.
@libyamatterspod Zach Campbell revisits what happened on the El Hiblu 1 last March, & tracks down the people who were on board. Great reporting.
Three months today since the Tajoura detention centre air strike, & survivors are still massively suffering
Carola Rakete, the captain of the rescue ship Sea-Watch 3, speaking live now at the European Parliament: europarl.europa.eu/streaming/?eve…
The EU delegation in Libya announces a "Post-Tajoura Working Group" has been created. Meanwhile I'm getting messages today from Tajoura bombing survivors who say they can still hear air strikes from the UNHCR centre in Tripoli.
Image
Hearing multiple reports that someone was shot at this week trying to enter the UNHCR GDF centre. It's unclear what might have happened to him afterwards. Image
Another reported suicide attempt by a survivor of the Tajoura detention centre bombing, this time in the UNHCR GDF centre in Tripoli. (The last was by a survivor who made it across to Italy.)
Late sharing but have a look at this four-part investigation into UNHCR Libya. Many of the things I've heard repeatedly from detainees are covered in it.
Here are the third and fourth parts.
Messages from Abu Salim detention centre, Tripoli, on Monday. Following this, at least eight people left the dc to go & find smugglers in Zuwara. One was a 17-year-old, according to others still in Abu Salim. Image
Linking in my latest report. Aid workers in Libya accuse UNHCR & IOM of whitewashing the deadly cost of European Union migration policy to safeguard tens of millions of euro of funding.
One quote from an aid official in Libya that didn't make the final edit, when asked should the UN be representing the views of refugees & what is the consequence of its inaction.
foreignpolicy.com/2019/10/10/lib… Image
Ethiopians who were moved from detention centres to the UNHCR GDF centre now say they’ve been told they need to go back to Ethiopia (& wont be evacuated elsewhere), or else must leave the centre & go out on the streets in Tripoli. ImageImageImage
Apologies for the ineloquence but I'm on the @ForeignPolicy podcast this week. Worth clarifying I'm not the only one in reg contact with detainees, there are others also v dedicated. I've been working on this for 14 months now & nothing has really changed.
@ForeignPolicy More refugees/migrants have reportedly left Abu Salim detention centre, Tripoli, to go back to smugglers on the coast & try & cross the Mediterranean Sea. They've become frustrated with the UNHCR process & given up, my source there says. Image
@ForeignPolicy Many reports that large numbers of detainees in UNHCR's Tripoli GDF - including Eritreans & Ethiopians - have been told they have no chance at evacuation or resettlement this week. It's unclear what will happen to them now.
@ForeignPolicy A protest today in UNHCR's GDF centre in Tripoli. People who have spent years - in some cases - in dcs now say they've been rejected for evacuation without explanation, despite being moved to UNHCR's centre months ago. They say they're now being told to go out on the streets. 1/ ImageImageImageImage
@ForeignPolicy This group apparently includes men, women, & children. They say they will quickly become victims of traffickers or militias again if they're forced out of the UNHCR centre. I asked UNHCR about this two days ago & am still waiting for an answer. 2/
@ForeignPolicy A woman begs for help & evacuation. A translation I've been given: "The UNHCR brought us (to the GDF) themselves and after a long time staying here they rejected us. Please brothers help us, please help as we have been in Libya for many years. Why did UNHCR reject us?" 3/
@ForeignPolicy UNHCR explanation of what is happening in the GDF centre, Tripoli, at the moment. 4/ Image
@ForeignPolicy Meanwhile, Libya has just been elected to the UN Human Rights Council.
news.un.org/en/story/2019/… Image
Detainees in Abu Salim dc held a protest yesterday in solidarity with the dozens in the UNHCR GDF who this week were told they won’t be evacuated from Libya. Those rejected reportedly include pregnant women, children & torture survivors. 1/ ImageImageImage
Video from Abu Salim dc.
“We are left with no option.”
“We are asylum seekers.”
“We need evacuation.”
2/
“Please do not reject us.”
3/
A video reportedly from the UNHCR GDF today. I’ve spoken to several rejected women there. They say they’ve been given the options of going back to the countries they fled (Somalia/war & Eritrea/dictatorship), or going out to live in Tripoli, where they say they won’t be safe.
Meanwhile, 237 more refugees/migrants have been intercepted at sea by the EU-backed Libyan coastguard, with most reportedly brought to Triq al Sikka, the same dc where we documented torture of detainees in February. aljazeera.com/news/2019/03/r…
Several women say they were moved to the GDF from Zintan, where they saw detainees die, incl a young child (see: foreignpolicy.com/2019/10/10/lib…) “When we are taken from Zintan… our life changed,(we thought) everything will be ok,” one said. "Now we are rejected”
As women, children & torture survivors have their cases for evacuation from Libya rejected, the UN Refugee Agency calls for more countries to offer spaces to vulnerable refugees. Latest: aljazeera.com/news/2019/10/v…
New Amnesty report on Libya includes this detail about Tajoura dc & the July bombing: that DCIM officials claimed it was necessary to place the detention centre inside a military compound to secure it.
amnesty.org/download/Docum… Image
Significant update from the UN Refugee Agency on its work in Libya.
Spoke to Jake for his Popular Front podcast about the situation for refugees I'm in touch with in Libya.
Yesterday, a resolution calling on EU governments to evacuate migrants/refugees from Libyan detention centres, perform search & rescue in the Med, & re-examine relationship with the Libyan Coastguard, among other things, failed to pass by just two votes.
Full text of the resolution: europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document…
"whereas people intercepted by the Libyan coastguard are transferred to dcs where they are systematically exposed to arbitrary detention in inhumane conditions & where torture & other ill-treatment, incl rape, arbitrary killings & exploitation are endemic"
When you see headlines talking about EU politicians' positions on "search & rescue", please remember this is not just about rescuing people in the sea, it is about the EU's active involvement in returning men, women & children to warzone detention centres run by brutal militias. ImageImageImage
A video reportedly showing MEPs yesterday cheering as a resolution, which would have called on European governments to reassess their role in intercepting boats & returning refugees/migrants to Libya, failed to pass by two votes .
Another headline with misleading framing. The failed resolution wasn't just about what the EU isn't doing, it was about what it is doing: actively supporting the return of 10,000s people - incl women & children - to detention centres where they're abused & even killed. Image
Meanwhile, EU begins recruitment campaign for "Europe’s first uniformed service – the European Border and Coast Guard standing corps".
Plans to have 10,000 border guards by 2027.
Survivors of July’s Tajoura detention centre bombing say they’re staging a protest tomorrow to call for help. They’re currently in the UNHCR GDF centre in Tripoli, but have been told they must leave before their resettlement cases have a chance of progressing. ImageImageImageImage
A letter written by survivors of the Tajoura bombing before their protest today. ImageImageImageImage
More frantic messages from people who say they are being asked to leave UNHCR's GDF centre in Tripoli, after having their cases for evacuation rejected. The group includes women & children, & they have all spent months or years in detention centres before this. #libya ImageImageImageImage
Hundreds of refugees/migrants have walked out of Abu Salim dc, after they say Libyan guards tried to force them into halls & lock them up. At the beginning of 2019 this group was given a choice: no food & some freedom to walk around, or food but being locked inside. 1/
2/ Detainees in Abu Salim haven’t been receiving food from Libyan authorities or aid orgs since October 2018. They had no faith it would begin again & many are torture survivors & very traumatised. Their families were forced to send money to buy food, which detainees pooled. Image
3/ While some detainees were evacuated from Abu Salim dc when the conflict in Tripoli began in April, hundreds were left there. In the months since, they’ve regularly heard fighting & the sounds of heavy weapons nearby.
4/ About 450 refugees/migrants have walked from Abu Salim dc, in Tripoli's south, to the UNHCR GDF centre.
They say they're now standing at the gates & the guards won't let them go inside. ImageImage
5/ Statement from the UN Refugee Agency on the Abu Salim escapees who are now outside their GDF centre, asking for protection. Image
6/ A video from outside the GDF in Tripoli. Hundreds of refugees/migrants have arrived at UNHCR asking for protection. They have spent months or years in detention, & before that with smugglers.
7/ Video call with a former Abu Salim detainee who said hundreds will sleep in the streets outside UNHCR’s GDF in Tripoli, hoping for staff to help them. They’re weak & frightened. ImageImage
8/ People asking me why this group is all male: Women & children were moved from Abu Salim a few months ago, after conflict started in Tripoli. Some are among the group who have now had their cases rejected by UNHCR & are being told to leave the GDF.
9/ Another update from outside the GDF in Tripoli, where hundreds are still hoping for protection from UNHCR. They say the UN has told them to go back to detention centres. I’m hearing from other sources Abu Salim’s management may not be willing to take them all back. ImageImageImage
/10 another video from outside the GDF, where hundreds are still waiting and asking for protection. More than 50 have tuberculosis, they’re telling me, & some need medical help.
Really fascinating dissertation examining the work of UNHCR & IOM in Libya. cerahgeneve.ch/files/4815/722… Among other things, more evidence of what refugees were saying months ago - DCIM hold the power in UNHCR's GDF centre, which was supposed to be a safe space Image
2/ Damning assessment of UN work with "urban" refugees illustrates why so many don't want to be released in Tripoli, where they are at huge risk & find it incredibly difficult to get any help. cerahgeneve.ch/files/6115/723… Image
3/ "at the management level, an international UNHCR staff stated they don’t have a contingency plan, which
should be a top priority in a context like Libya. As a consequence, they couldn’t handle such emergencies & closed the doors on displaced refugees…"
4/ This dissertation also says the same thing I reported in my Foreign Policy piece (foreignpolicy.com/2019/10/10/lib…), that aid workers in Libya are frustrated at UNHCR/IOM promoting "media propaganda" & "misleading messages" on social media.
"Scholars refer to this as disinformation" ImageImage
Multiple confirmations that the hundreds who left Abu Salim dc & spent two days outside Tripoli's UNHCR GDF have now been allowed inside. UNHCR said the GDF was already overcapacity before this, so it's unclear what will happen next. ImageImage
The first two photos apparently show the former Abu Salim detainees who have now entered the GDF.
One of the things they have brought with them is a picture of Jesus, which you can also see in the attached screenshots from a video taken in Abu Salim dc before they left. ImageImageImageImage
Meanwhile, Italy is to renew its deal with the GNA under which which the Libyan coastguard stops boats at sea & sends their passengers back to Libya. The deal was due to expire this Saturday.
theguardian.com/world/2019/oct…
Though they're inside the GDF gates, the detainees who left Abu Salim say they have no food or mattresses & are sleeping outside tonight again. Others in the GDF gave them some blankets & they're getting water out of a pipe. Image
UNHCR statement below saying that the GDF centre is now at double its max capacity with 1,200 who have escaped dcs, incl new arrivals from Abu Salim.
When UNHCR opened the GDF last year they said capacity was 1,000 - it's unclear why that number decreased. unhcr.org/uk/news/press/… ImageImage
"Nearly seven months after commander Khalifa Haftar launched an offensive against Tripoli, the war has reached an impasse that foreign support on both sides has failed to unlock." #libya reuters.com/article/us-lib…
Some of the former Abu Salim detainees now in the UNHCR GDF are saying they’ve received no food since Tuesday, except a few biscuits from IOM today. ImageImageImage
Former Abu Salim detainees, now in the UNHCR GDF centre, say they haven’t received any food in six days. They’re weak & starving. ImageImage
One week now without food for the hundreds of former Abu Salim detainees now inside the UNHCR GDF centre in Tripoli. It's not clear why they're not being fed. Other big aid organisations don't have responsibility, this is a UNHCR issue, I'm being told. ImageImage
Dozens of women & children, as well as 10-15 husbands, kicked out of Triq al Sikka dc yesterday, reportedly after a protest. Some have spent 2 years in dcs & are terrified. They've been asking for UNHCR protection in Gurji, but say they were just offered money & told to go away. ImageImage
They have received some aid from MSF but still have nowhere to go. Tonight they say they were beaten up by police/militiamen & forced to move away from the UNHCR office. They say they are worried UNHCR staff are the ones calling the police on them. ImageImageImageImage
A message from someone else with the former Triq al Sikka group.
"Today some kidnapping police came, they beat us & push us to another place… We are in danger situation… Now we are in the baddest situation. This (is) new news. Our life is in question mark." Image
Finally some food today for the former Abu Salim detainees in the GDF. BP-5 is a high-calorie, vitamin-full dry food normally given in disaster relief/crisis areas. ImageImage
"As regards alleged crimes committed against migrants in Libya…My team continues to collect & analyse documentary, digital & testimonial evidence relating to alleged crimes committed in dcs. We are assessing the viability of bringing cases before the ICC"
Image
A video of the group of mainly women & children, as well as some men, who were kicked out of Triq al Sikka dc & are looking for help. I haven't heard from anyone there in a few hours, but last time we spoke they said they were still in the street.
Multiple sources in the UNHCR GDF saying the former Abu Salim detainees still aren't being fed. This - from UNICEF - & some protein bars/biscuits from IOM is the only food they've been given since arriving inside on October 31.
Former Abu Salim detainees in the UNHCR GDF centre in Tripoli continue to be deprived of food. Image
(Just to add that I have contacted UNHCR multiple times about this in the past week, but still haven't got an answer.)
Meanwhile, the former Triq al Sikka detainees, who were released onto the streets, say they have accepted money from UNHCR & found some shelter but still want protection. The group includes many women & children, as well as torture survivors. They say they are still in danger. ImageImageImage
Former Abu Salim detainees in the GDF say those with money can now buy bread from others there, but they haven't formally been given any more food. Given they are now in a centre under the control of UNHCR it's very hard to understand why this is happening
A source among the Tajoura bombing survivors in the UNHCR GDF centre is saying the TB patients among them haven’t been given medication in weeks. I believe several people from the Abu Salim group there were referred for TB treatment last week, but they’re being kept separately. ImageImageImageImage
Former Abu Salim detainees currently sheltering in the UNHCR GDF say they were told by GDF guards today they won’t get any food or water until they leave. They say they need UN protection & Tripoli’s streets/dcs are too dangerous. They’ve already barely eaten since they arrived. ImageImage
It’s unclear whether denying food & water to this group of refugees is a deliberate strategy by UNHCR to get them to leave the UN centre, or if there are other reasons (other refugees there are still getting fed). I asked UNHCR this on Nov 12 but got no response.
The EU has admitted in a leaked report that the detention of migrants is a “profitable business model” for Libya’s government & it cannot monitor the Libyan coastguard, despite spending tens of millions of euro on them. theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/n…
A UNHCR tweet from Nov 20 referred to 10 people who agreed to leave the UNHCR GDF. Other Tajoura survivors say they left bc of stress & constantly being told by UNHCR staff they wouldn't be helped. They also reportedly know Arabic, so are at an advantage compared to others. ImageImageImageImage
Meanwhile, former Abu Salim detainees say they've been told they'll get no more food or water until they leave the relative safety of the GDF. Here's an email I sent to UNHCR on Nov 11 which still hasn't been answered, asking is this deliberate starvation. Image
(Just realised the date on the email above is different to the one I mentioned before. I've been moving between time zones, which explains why.)
116 more refugees arrived in Rwanda, directly from Libya, in the early hours of this morning.
irishtimes.com/news/world/afr… Image
A source saying he tried to cross the Mediterranean Sea but was caught by the Libyan coastguard & returned to Libya three days ago. He wasn't put in a dc but since then a militia has already tried to force him to work for them. ImageImageImageImage
Latest report:
The UN Refugee Agency stands accused of deliberately starving refugees to get them to leave its centre in Libya, despite refugees saying it's the only place they feel safe.
theguardian.com/global-develop…
Internal documents leaked to me show the UN plans to withdraw all food to hundreds more people, including survivors of the July Tajoura detention centre bombing.
An aid worker with knowledge of the situation said: “They are starving the population inside the [facility]. They’re just trying to starve them to motivate them to leave. It’s deliberately withholding aid to put people under pressure.”
UNHCR also plans to stop using its Tripoli GDF as a transit centre.
The document I saw outlined possible scenarios for what might happen next, including that DCIM “moves in and forcibly removes all the migrants/asylum-seekers … [to] detention centres."
“Still now they didn’t give food. I think it is [on] purpose?” a refugee in the GDF told me this week. “Everyone is suffering & stressed & we have all decided to stay here until they use force, bc being returned to a dc means trafficking, torture & abuse.”
UN Refugee Agency statement from last night confirms it is "phasing out food catering" at the GDF & "reassessing the role" of the centre. unhcr.org/news/press/201…
Despite UNHCR not responding to inquiries about whether they're deliberately starving refugees for weeks, UNHCR High Commissioner Filippo Grandi has now called our report "offensive".
japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/11/2… ImageImageImageImage
Letters distributed today to hundreds of refugees/asylum seekers in the UNHCR GDF in Tripoli. ImageImageImageImage
Meanwhile, the former Abu Salim detainees in the GDF still say they still haven't got food. ImageImageImage
An IOM assessment of this group said the lack of food is stopping the sick from improving & jeopardising health of others, esp given it's winter now so calorie requirements increase. It said cold & malnutrition are a "perfect match" for spreading disease.
A video by MSF from Zintan detention centre, saying six husbands were left behind when their wives were moved by UNHCR.
It also mentions the large number of deaths that took place after hundreds of detainees were moved there during 2018 Tripoli fighting.
https://t.co/3TBUphL53w
UNHCR now claiming no one is being starved in its Tripoli GFD & that is not true. An internal UN assessment says 400 former Abu Salim detainees there - incl 100 minors - are “starving”. I’m in touch with that group personally too & they say they haven’t eaten properly in a month.
Messages I’ve just received from one of the former Abu Salim detainees in the GDF who are going without food (actually not someone I spoke to for the report but we were in touch months ago). He says UNHCR is “forcing” them to leave the GDF, though it’s a “death penalty” for them. ImageImageImage
“Very, very hungry. No food at all. We have finished our biscuit weeks ago.”
Here’s the biscuit he refers to, which was given out to former Abu Salim detainees by Unicef on November 6. https://t.co/qHMvFHqmmG Image
In case anyone can’t understand, in these messages he’s also saying they’ll still refuse to leave the GDF bc they’re too frightened. He’s spent 3 years in Libya, but he’s been locked up that entire time until now. “We do not know anything (about) outside.”
https://t.co/tk1h2mg6n8
Two big reports just out on Libyan detention centres. @GI_TOC's 'The Political Economy of Migrant Detention in Libya' globalinitiative.net/migrant-detent…
& @Mixed_Migration's 'What makes refugees and migrants vulnerable to detention in Libya?' mixedmigration.org/resource/what-…
@GI_TOC @Mixed_Migration New video statement from UNHCR's Vincent Cochetel in Geneva again confirming that refugees/asylum seekers will have to leave the GDF to get food from the new year. media.unhcr.org/CS.aspx?VP3=Se…
There was a good AP report out today too with more info: apnews.com/7e72689f44e45d…
Reports two detainees in Khoms Souq al Khamis dc were shot this week by a possibly drunk & definitely armed Libyan militiaman, who came in from outside the centre. They’re now in hospital.
With all the chaos & neglect now happening in Tripoli's UNHCR GDF centre I'm thinking back to earlier this year, when refugees used to call the GDF "the hotel" because it was the nicest place they'd been in years.
More info on expected 2020 resettlement places for refugees who have passed through Libya.
Many already in Rwanda - whom I visited recently - are welcoming this as good news.
It's not as good for those still in Libya. 2,390 is small considering the number in need & in danger. Image
On the road to Gashora, Rwanda, where I met refugees recently evacuated from Libya. They’re grateful to be in a safe place, but still very traumatised & worried about their futures.
100+ people have now agreed to leave the GDF, according to UNHCR, after being told their evacuation cases won't be evaluated inside & food will be stopped from the end of December (100s have already gone a month without being given food). I'll post an account from one next 1/ Image
He says food is already running low because refugees who still are being fed are sharing it with the hundreds who aren't. He also really wants his case for evacuation to be assessed. 2/ ImageImageImageImage
"I am losing hope."
"What is the result of staying at (the) GDF? I take the risk on (my belief in) God."
"Humanitarian organizations… (do) not mind or care about us."
3/
Must-watch France24 documentary which includes the filming team going on board a Libyan coastguard boat during an interception. The reaction by the women, finding they're being taken back to Libya, is really heartbreaking.
The debate afterwards was also very interesting. france24.com/en/20191209-in…
This was written by a refugee who is still in detention in Libya, in memory of all Eritreans who have lost their lives in the Mediterranean Sea.
He asked me to make it public. Please read. ImageImage
Important reads on the EU Trust Fund for Africa:
Countries that receive money are considered to be in a "crisis" so no public procurement is needed
thecorrespondent.com/166/how-the-eu… 1/ Image
The EU plans to double migration spending under the new 2021-2027 budget, while quadrupling spending on border control. 2/
thecorrespondent.com/154/europe-spe…
Pope Francis has again called for the closure of Libya’s migrant holding centres, saying they are places where would-be refugees are dying slowly from “ignoble torture and slavery.” washingtonpost.com/national/relig…
“How can we not hear the desperate cry of so many brothers & sisters who prefer to risk the stormy seas rather than die slowly in Libyan dcs, places of ignoble torture & slavery… We have to seriously commit to emptying the dcs in Libya.”
MSF & SOS Méditerranée's Ocean Viking rescue ship now has 162 people on board after two rescues. Among them are survivors of the Tajoura dc bombing (see quote below).
There is also a baby of just three months old.
They are waiting for a safe port. Image
Multiple reports that a detainee has died in Zawiya (Al Nasr) detention centre. ImageImageImage
Hearing some of my contacts are among those rescued by MSF & are disembarking in Italy today. Amazing to think they have finally reached a place of safety after all they have been through. https://t.co/o53uqK04U3
Linking in my ongoing thread from on board the Alan Kurdi rescue ship. https://t.co/MUCldMlvV5
New MSF report highly critical of EU policy towards refugees in Libya, while highlighting the ineffectiveness of UN assistance.
msf.org/libya%E2%80%99…
"The main objective for European states remains the containment of migrants & refugees in Libya, at any cost. The assistance & protection programmes they finance in Libya are in service to this & act to some extent as an instrument of this brutal policy."
"Notions as simple &fundamental as the protection of asylum seekers… have completely disappeared from the discourse of states & intergovernmental agencies on Libya.
They have been replaced by migration control."
A lot of this MSF report backs up my piece in Foreign Policy about accusations the UN is whitewashing the deadly impacts of EU migration policy in Libya. foreignpolicy.com/2019/10/10/lib…
Meanwhile, I’m still getting regular messages, like this one yesterday, from people trapped in a cycle of extreme abuse & exploitation in Libya who are desperate to be heard. Image
From spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Dec 20:
"…parties to the conflict in Libya continue to store weapons & ammunition in close proximity to civilian locations, particularly dcs where migrants and refugees are being detained."
ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/… Image
Former Abu Salim detainees at the UNHCR GDF in Tripoli (the same group who have been deprived of food) now say a wall has been built to separate them from others so they can’t even get clean water or eat what they were being passed by other refugees/migrants there. ImageImageImage
Messages from Zawiya’s al Nasr detention centre, where survivors of the April Qasr Bin Ghashir dc attack are now caught up in another fight, in the place they were moved for “safety” by the UN. ImageImage
UNHCR statement on the situation for detained refugees in Zawiya, as conflict escalates. https://t.co/hLPUg1dwC4
Two reports that when former Abu Salim detainees went outside the GDF gates to try & get food they were taken away by police.
This group has been left w/o food or water since they arrived at the end of Oct, & now a wall stops them getting it from others.
ImageImage
Today is the final day food will be provided in the UNHCR GDF centre in Tripoli. People I'm speaking to still there are very frightened. Others have already given up & paid to go to sea. Some were rescued by the Ocean Viking rescue ship.
A third account of former Abu Salim detainees in the UNHCR GDF getting arrested when they tried to find food. Hundreds of them have reportedly gone without food or water for three days, after a wall was build to separate them from others in the centre. https://t.co/7bHjCEpOdo ImageImageImage
"…in a country without a functioning government, huge sums of European money have been diverted to intertwined networks of militiamen, traffickers and coast guard members who exploit migrants. In some cases, UN officials knew…" apnews.com/6a9414416f1bab…
Great to see AP also highlighting Aser's art. He is one of many artists, musicians & writers locked up in Libya's detention centres. apnews.com/b55a574819e26a…
A fourth account of former Abu Salim detainees being taken away by Libyans after they tried to get food. This, despite UNHCR encouraging refugees to leave the centre.
All I spoke to say they’ve also been given no documents guaranteeing no rearrest.
https://t.co/eu6IePoZsR Image
Former Abu Salim detainees protest today in the GDF, saying the UN Refugee Agency is deliberately starving them to make them go out on the streets, where they will be in danger. They also want to know where others who they say were arrested trying to find food were taken.
Multiple reports of rockets hitting close to the GDF today.
"How in the world, how this can happen?," one Eritrean there asked me by phone. "This is a civilian place, GDF is the centre of civilians so most people here are civilians. That’s why we need this place (to be) safe." ImageImageImage
Meanwhile, inside the GDF survivors of the Tajoura detention centre bombing held a memorial to mark six months since it happened.
"We never demanded special country but anywhere we will be safe," one sign says. #libya ImageImageImage
See the t-shirts they have painted.
"We draw it because it describe(d) (in) the moment what happened."
ImageImage
UNHCR statement: “UNHCR is deeply concerned for the safety of refugees & asylum seekers at the (GDF) in Tripoli, Libya, following news that three mortars fell close to the site earlier today. Fortunately, there were no casualties." unhcr.org/news/press/202…
From Al Nasr centre in Zawiya last night, where refugees are still asking for protection & very worried about how close they are to military action. Image
& from the former Abu Salim group in the UNHCR GDF centre, who say things are getting worse as they are denied food & water & pressured to go out on the streets. Image
Our view of Tripoli this weekend from the Moonbird search & rescue plane, which looks for refugee boats in the central Mediterranean. Image
Former Abu Salim detainees in the GDF say they can no longer take tuberculosis medication because of the lack of food. It’s difficult to take it on empty stomachs. Around 45 of them have TB. ImageImage
More on Trust Fund for Africa spending, aimed at stopping migration to Europe. 20 million euro went to a project in Eritrea which is being built by forced conscripts in a system the United Nations has described as “tantamount to enslavement.”
From Tripoli: "My dream for these days is just to have a future. The atmosphere is filled with sadness and the smell of blood a lot. This morning, instead of the sounds of birds, there are the sounds of bombings."
Hundreds of former Abu Salim detainees in the UN GDF centre in Tripoli saying they've been told that the only way to get the people who were arrested trying to buy food released is to agree to go onto the streets or into another detention centre. ImageImage
Appeal for help for 410 detainees in Tripoli’s Sabaa detention centre. People locked up there worried they’ve been forgotten by international orgs bc of all the chaos in the GDF.
They’ve long been victims of beating & food deprivation by the guards. ImageImageImage
Via IOM spokesperson. https://t.co/0DujUijeRx
My latest: refugees pressured to leave the failing UNHCR centre in Tripoli are taking to the sea. 50+ have left & been rescued by NGO ships in the last two months, according to a Somali survivor of the Tajoura bombing who is now in Italy.
theguardian.com/global-develop…
Reports from many sources that two of the former Abu Salim detainees, who left the GDF to find food in the last two weeks, were killed today, seemingly by Libyans who were trying to rob them. Trying to get more information.
UNHCR acknowledges deaths of two Eritreans effectively forced from the GDF through starvation.
Please read my previous reports on the circumstances that preceded this.
1. theguardian.com/global-develop…
2. theguardian.com/global-develop…
https://t.co/MgU63mAMCY
A repeat of the 2018 Nivin incident? cnn.com/2018/11/20/afr… I've since spoken to people violently forced off the Nivin who suffered serious injuries that went without treatment for months afterwards.
Photos I'm told are of the two Eritreans killed after being pushed from the UN centre in Tripoli, which are circulating already online & have been sent to me by many sources who knew them.
ImageImageImage
While a UNHCR spokesperson is denying these two went to the GDF, all refugees I'm speaking to are saying that's not true. Hundreds of former Abu Salim detainees in the GDF have been mostly left w/o food since late Oct. No proper list of their names was ever taken. ImageImageImageImage
Former Abu Salim detainees protest the murders of two of their own.
Aid workers I've talked to with inside knowledge v distressed by the condition of the former Abu Salim detainees in the GDF, but they can't see the UN shifting on its position not to help them. If they don't leave DCIM is expected to use force to move them
A response from one of the former Abu Salim detainees in the GDF when I told him this. He says if they agree to leave UNHCR is insisting on them saying it was a voluntary choice while they say it’s not voluntary when they’re being deprived food & water.
ImageImage
Legal evacuations from Libya are at about 2,000 a year, a tiny, tiny number when you consider nearly 1,000 men, women & children trying to reach safety in Europe have been forcibly returned by the EU-funded Libyan coastguard in the first two weeks of 2020
Hearing lots of anger from refugees in Libya about this UNHCR statement, which comes days after the murder of two refugees who were encouraged to leave a more protected UN centre for “urban” areas in Tripoli. https://t.co/gjaFIWFIG4
Adal, a 16-year-old Eritrean who was being held at Sabaa detention centre, died last Sunday. His friends say they were trying to get him medical help but it was too slow to come. Adal tried to reach Europe in April 2018 but was forcibly returned to Libya by the Libyan coastguard. ImageImageImageImage
Messages from another Eritrean in Sabaa dc who says many detainees there have medical problems & they desperately need help.
"The humanitarian(s) must know. We don't have to keep quiet. This thing will happen again." ImageImageImage
UNHCR Special Envoy for the Central Med now saying the agency has no access at all to the GDF, the Tripoli centre they opened in 2018 as an "alternative to detention". In this Nov '19 statement they said they were still operating inside it. unhcr.org/uk/news/press/… Image
I spoke to refugees who were imprisoned with Adal in two different detention centres. They said they are devastated by his death.
Former Abu Salim detainees are now leaving the GDF in groups. Here are messages from two of them - one who has left & one still there.
For more information on the background to this please look at my November report: theguardian.com/global-develop… ImageImageImageImage
For BBC’s ‘From Our Own Correspondent’, my report from on board a boat rescuing Libyans escaping the war in Tripoli by sea. bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00…
Former Abu Salim detainees in the GDF saying the UN has taken two groups out now but others are still waiting there without food, despite saying they’re willing to leave too.
They’re still incredibly frightened about losing protection but need to eat. ImageImage
Food currently stopped for hundreds of detainees in Zawiya dc. Received this yesterday. Image
New Alarmphone statement: "Over the past five days, at least 930 people tried to escape Libya on 15 boats - about 850 of them reached Europe." Image
Update yesterday from Sabaa dc, where 16 detainees were reportedly told their cases for evacuation have been rejected, some after years locked up.
"They told them their case is failed, no country has accept(ed) their case. They are all victims. In their country & in Libya." ImageImageImageImage
Second update from Sabaa dc: the detainees apparently told their cases for evacuation were rejected say they were taken to town but left without anywhere to stay. ImageImageImageImage
New UNHCR statement on the GDF, saying they're suspending operations because military/police training exercises are now taking place on site.
"We fear that the entire area could become a military target." ImageImageImage
An aid worker who has worked in the GDF is describing these UNHCR posts as "propaganda", released to promote their services right before they announced they've suspended operations in the GDF totally.
"Thousands of human beings have risked their lives to seek protection. It is shameful that we turn a blind eye to them. This tragedy has gone on for too long now."
One week since I last heard from someone who said he's a Sudanese refugee who survived the Tajoura bombing & has been with a smuggler since Oct. Though he wanted to go to sea & escape, he said he had no choice about when to try & had a lifejacket but they wouldn't let him wear it Image
Today marks three years since the Italy-Libya deal began, & it's now been renewed for another three years with no amendments.
"It defies comprehension" - Amnesty International.
amnesty.org/en/latest/news…
Two weeks now since I heard from him. Just one of many who go to sea & lose contact. If they’re intercepted & brought to detention it can take months for someone to access a phone again. If they reach Europe it could be faster. Image
Eritreans who were encouraged to leave the GDF by UNHCR are saying one man has since been shot in the leg & they’re being terrorised daily by Libyans with guns. ImageImage
Getting a lot of messages from former detainees who were recently brought out of the GDF under UNHCR’s “urban package” & say they’re struggling in Tripoli. ImageImageImageImage
35+ former Abu Salim detainees who were pushed out of the GDF reportedly among a bigger group paying smugglers over the past week to go back to sea.
I wrote about this happening before: theguardian.com/global-develop… Image
Around 90 people (Including families) apparently taken from Zawiya dc last week & released on the streets also saying they’re struggling. ImageImage
Telegraph op-ed from UNHCR head Filippo Grandi mentions refugees/migrants being intercepted at sea trying to flee Libya, but (as is usual with UNHCR) leaves out that this is a direct result of EU policy. telegraph.co.uk/global-health/…
My report from a mission on board the Moonbird, Sea Watch's search & rescue plane, which flies above the central Mediterranean Sea looking for refugee boats in distress. irishtimes.com/news/world/eur…
Lots of sources sharing information that an Ethiopian family among the last few encouraged to leave the GDF yesterday for “urban” Tripoli areas were attacked last night & the father’s hands slashed by thieves. I believe he has since received medical help. Image
Tajoura bombing survivors still in the GDF protesting yesterday, saying they are unwilling to accept UNHCR's offer of a small amount of cash assistance & go out on the streets where their lives will be at risk. #tripoli
"It’s a craven disgrace," said Human Rights Watch's Judith Sunderland about the end of Operation Sophia. "Instead of doing the right thing, or even the bare minimum, EU leaders are saying explicitly they do not want to save lives at sea." irishtimes.com/news/world/eur…
"Given the safety situation in conflict-torn Libya at present & the great amount of evidence pointing to serious human rights violations faced by migrants… returned there, I call on your gov to suspend cooperation activities… with the Libyan coastguard"
Latest: from Rwanda, on meeting refugees who have been evacuated there from Libya. foreignpolicy.com/2020/02/20/eur… ImageImage
Fire in Zintan detention centre last night. At least one detainee died, according to many sources. It's not clear yet how the fire was started, though it was likely accidental. #libya
More from IOM on the fire in Zintan.
More than 100 refugees/migrants reportedly remaining in the GDF in Tripoli, despite UNHCR saying they are stopping work there. They continue to say they are unwilling to leave because of concerns for their safety. Here is an appeal from one of them: ImageImage
Refugees/asylum seekers who left Libya by being smuggled to Tunisia say they're being attacked & generally treated badly there. I was talking to a longtime contact yesterday who decided to come back to Libya again in the hopes of reaching Europe.
My report on the fire in Zintan detention centre, which killed one detainee & injured many others: irishtimes.com/news/world/afr…
Hundreds of refugees and migrants still there (most as a direct result of EU policy) are appealing for help. #libya ImageImage
“The fire and smoke became beyond our capacity. As a result, this tragedy happened.”
“We are in great risk."
“Most of the refugees are desperate. Imagine staying in Libyan prison for three years.”
More than 20,000 men, women & children have died trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea since 2014.
https://t.co/3uIocEUkcs
Roughly 50 survivors of last year’s Tajoura detention centre bombing have reportedly been told they have to leave the GDF, the former UNHCR centre in Tripoli, by 5pm today or they will be removed by force. ImageImage
A message from someone in the TrIpoli GDF. They say the deadline to leave moved to today but they are still being threatened with force.
“Even if the police wanted to kill us, let him do so... This is our fate.” Image
Everybody needs some good news & here's some:
The refugee who did these drawings from Libya was resettled in Europe & this week got 100% on a language test in his new country's language.
UN Refugee Agency launches #coronavirus funding appeal, while at the same time suspending help to refugees in Libya because of COVID-19. Many of those now cut off were forced to leave the UNHCR GDF centre earlier this year. Image
Talking to a lot of refugees in Libya about COVID-19. Here are messages from someone in Zintan dc, where dozens have died from medical neglect & a recent fire. He’s worried bc they are crowded together but “since we are isolated from the world the possibility to reach us is less” ImageImage
In Khoms Souq al Khamise dc detainees were going outside to work during the day in exchange for food, but now that has been stopped because of coronavirus & they’re worried about how they will eat. ImageImageImage
As Libya records its first coronavirus case, my report on the fears of some of the country’s refugees: theguardian.com/global-develop…
Adding this into my thread on Libya. It's so important not to forget the suffering of hundreds of thousands of civilians caught up in a war that everyone I spoke to can't see any fast end to.
UN Refugee Agency once again publicly thanking the EU Trust Fund, the same fund paying tens of millions towards forced interceptions & returns of refugees to detention centres in Libya where they are locked up in horrific conditions, including torture, forced labour, starvation. Image
My Foreign Policy article on allegations the UN is whitewashing the deadly impacts of EU policy towards refugees. Even in the time of coronavirus returns are continuing: foreignpolicy.com/2019/10/10/lib…
Detainees in Khoms Souq al Khamis say they're still suffering from a lack of food, given they've been locked inside unable to work, & guards say there is no money to buy food for them.
The group apparently includes dozens of minors & people with TB.
ImageImage
Detainees in Zintan detention centre, 180km from Tripoli, say their food & water supplies have been reduced because of restrictions on movement related to the coronavirus lockdown. There are more than 400 people currently locked up there, according to detainees. ImageImageImageImage
Two sources in Zawiya dc saying this was a daily food ration this week for 230 people. "We are so starved," one man told me. ImageImage
From Thurs: Libya considers its ports unsafe for the disembarkation of migrants - refused to let 280 people, intercepted by the Libyan coastguard, leave the boat bc of the risk of shelling.
iom.int/news/libya-con…
Italy's ports have also been declared unsafe due to covid-19.
"In only one week, 5-11 April 2020, 1,000+ people on more than 20 boats have left the Libyan shore. @alarm_phone was alerted to 10 boats in total, two of which were rescued by Alan Kurdi on 6 April. Over 500 are reported to have been returned to Libya"
alarmphone.org/en/2020/04/11/…
Getting contacted today by multiple sources among the refugees evacuated to Gashora from detention centres in Libya. They say one of the Rwandan security men tried to rape an underage boy last night. They are calling for his removal & an investigation.
More info on this. Refugees say they've been left in the camp with the commander responsible, who is still moving around freely among underage & incredibly vulnerable people, despite officials saying an investigation will happen. ImageImageImageImage
Latest: In Rwanda, an allegation that a policeman tried to rape an underage boy has rocked the EU-funded scheme for refugees evacuated from Libya.
Evacuees are worried there will be no proper investigation or justice.
theguardian.com/global-develop…
“They want to suppress our voice totally. They will fade this incident and we can’t do anything about it because we are refugees.”
Big questions are being raised as to why a UNHCR spokesperson told journalists refugees in Rwanda were protesting the coronavirus lockdown, despite UNHCR being aware of the allegation of the attempted rape of a minor days before. washingtonpost.com/world/africa/r…
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Detainees who were released from Sabaa detention centre in Tripoli last month are saying they haven't been getting cash assistance from UNHCR. Around 240 were let out of the dc, after it stopped being associated with DCIM. ImageImage
Update from Zawiya dc, where they are mourning the death of three men who were apparently among the 12 people who died at sea two weeks ago after days w/o help. Acc to my source, the three men were also survivors of the Qasr bin Ghashir dc militia attack. independent.com.mt/articles/2020-… ImageImage
Terror in Tripoli tonight. A message from the front lines: "It is a black night on Tripoli ... we are all very afraid of death, the sounds of explosions are everywhere, and we don't know what happened."
“The war has taken our positive energy. Just pray for us,” she said. #libya https://t.co/itn1LgjlsR
Another death among detainees in Zintan dc on May 14. He was a 39 year old from Eritrea, I'm being told. Exact cause of death is not clear.
"Due to the high temperature and shortage of water and electricity. And high pressure & maybe developed heart disease"- said a source there.
Refugees put out on the streets in a war zone after months or years in detention in Zawiya al Nast dc, & others beforehand, are now left without shelter. Messages from one below.
ImageImage
UNHCR Libya mission head Jean-Paul Cavalieri said the 200 refugees/migrants were "released" from Zawiya's Al Nasr detention centre, & that they have "long advocated" for their "orderly release," but refugees tell me they escaped. One account below: ImageImage
…It seems like the 200 people who were released/escaped were replaced right away.
"Libya’s coastguard intercepted about 400 Europe-bound migrants… over the past two days… the migrants were taken to the Al-Nasser detention center in the town of Zawya"
arabnews.com/node/1679776/m…
More info about this sad death: irishtimes.com/news/world/afr…
Tewelde Andom was a 39y/o father of 3 who tried to cross the Med in 2018.
He joked that everyone detained in Zintan must have been sinners to have been locked up rather than allowed reach safety.
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IOM "deplores the killing of 30 migrants in a shooting yesterday (27/05) involving a trafficker in Libya.
The tragedy occurred is a smuggling warehouse in Mezda, near the city of Gharyan."
iom.int/news/iom-deplo…
Refugees in Zintan dc say 200+ people arrived today after they were intercepted at sea. They’re worried this could bring coronavirus to the detention centre.
“We are fearing.” #libya ImageImageImage
Read these personal accounts by refugees who are victims of EU policy. Their voices are important too.
1. independent.co.uk/voices/libya-s…
2. theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
3. newstatesman.com/world/middle-e…
#BlackLivesMatter
Fighting may have stopped in Tripoli for now (bbc.com/news/world-afr…), but so many refugees there are messaging to say they can't pay rent/have no money for food & risk homelessness & starvation. Image
"The coronavirus pandemic means that UN repatriation & resettlement programmes have come to a halt, extinguishing the migrants’ only hope of finding a way out of a cycle of abuse and violence in Libya" - head of @MSF Libya writes. telegraph.co.uk/global-health/… @MSF_Sea Image
Armed men attacked Zintan dc on Sunday night. One guard was killed. Detainees say they believe the people who attacked were trying to kidnap them & will try again.
More from MSF: ImageImage
The World Food Programme & UNHCR say they will begin giving out emergency food aid to refugees & asylum seekers in Libya. Many have recently been "released" from detention. However, the biggest problem I'm hearing is how to pay rent. So many are already homeless or risking it. ImageImageImage
Meanwhile, the EU declares #blacklivesmatter. Why is there still no mass public outrage about the tens of thousands of men, women & children intercepted on the Mediterranean Sea (with EU money) & locked up indefinitely in Libya? https://t.co/JAqSHITN0N
Today, the UN moved to establish a fact-finding mission on human rights in Libya since 2016, “with a view to ensuring that perpetrators of violations or abuses of international human rights law & international humanitarian law are held accountable.” Image
Refugee in Libyan detention centre asking why the EU is supporting interceptions on the sea & returns to Libya. Hundreds more were locked up in his dc this week.
"The Libyans don't care about us. Before the rooms were very small… they brought new people & now no place to sleep" ImageImageImage
"People outside in Europe or in other countries, they think about how to be healthy, how to save themselves from covid or other diseases, but here we (are) missing the simplest way (to) eat, sleep, (be) safe."
#libya
"The CSDM has submitted a formal request to the UN Committee against Torture to launch an inquiry procedure under Art 20 CAT concerning Italy’s conduct in the Central Med, which is leading to the mass torture, rape & forced labour of thousands…" centre-csdm.org/request-for-un…
A woman gave birth on a rubber dinghy as six people reportedly died. Everyone was forced back to Libya, a country where they will likely be exploited, imprisoned, abused, caught up in violence & are clearly desperate to escape.
Tonight is the first anniversary of the tragic Tajoura migrant dc bombing.
A survivor writes in the Guardian: "Still, I will never forget the moment. All the refugees fell to the ground. We were screaming… Please world, try to open your eyes to us." theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
"I tried to cross the Mediterranean from Libya to reach Europe, but I was caught by the Libyan coastguard and they brought me to Tajoura detention centre in eastern Tripoli. The coastguard is funded by the European Union. We blame Europe a lot."
A poem written by survivors of Libya's Tajoura detention centre bombing, to mark its first anniversary. Dozens of refugees/migrants died after an air strike hit the hall they were locked up in. Image
Pope Francis (again) denounced the unimaginable “hell” of Libya’s migrant detention camps as he celebrated a mass on Wednesday in honour of would-be asylum seekers who risk their lives for a better future. nytimes.com/aponline/2020/… Image
& Reuters coverage:
Pope Francis has compared migrant detention centres in Libya to concentration camps.
"Lager is an abbreviation of the German word ‘Konzentrationslager’, or concentration camp."
"The Libyan coast guard has been working actively the last weeks to disrupt the activities of smugglers… Today, I would like to acknowledge your contribution to our common struggle. 60% of all dangerous departures from North Africa are prevented."
Reports that shots have been fired as militia/police arrest refugees/migrants in Garagesh, Tripoli. This is where many of those released/thrown out of dcs have ended up living. "Even we have (documents) sometimes the police (steal) phones & money from refugees," one man told me. ImageImage
Linking these two recent reports into this thread:
'Body floating for weeks in Mediterranean highlights ongoing drownings' irishtimes.com/news/world/afr…
'Refugee victims of Tajoura bombing still lie in unmarked graves one year on'
theguardian.com/global-develop…
Refugees/migrants who were locked up in Zintan dc in May, after being caught on the sea by the EU-funded Libyan coastguard, have already been present for two attacks on the dc, including one in which a guard was killed. They - & others there longer - are calling for evacuation. ImageImageImage
MSF confirms this latest attack on Zintan dc (Dhar el-Jebel). #libya
The captain of an Italian-flagged ship is to be tried for allegedly forcing migrants back to Libya, in the first such case in Italy. The Asso 28 supply ship picked up 101 people near the Sabratha platform oil rig in international waters, on July 30, 2018.
thelocal.it/20200719/first…
UNHCR statement on the death of an Eritrean who came to their Tripoli centre looking for medical care this week. Multiple refugee sources say the man was not allowed to enter the UNHCR centre. UNHCR say they called an ambulance for him, but he died before he could be transported. ImageImage
Many reports that a group of refugees/migrants, including Tajoura bombing survivors & people who were forced to leave the UNHCR/EU-funded GDF centre in Tripoli at the start of the year, are once again being held for ransom by smugglers. #libya ImageImageImageImage
Friends are begging for help. Image
The 95 are still calling for help, saying the boat may only be afloat for 1-2 more hours. A cargo vessel has been circling them but doesn't help. "We are so thirsty," one told AlarmPhone. "They have to give us water for the baby. The baby is near to die."
IOM appeals for help for them. It's now 37 hours since AlarmPhone alerted authorities of their situation.
Some on board this boat came from Zintan dc, where dozens of detained refugees/migrants (including children) died of medical neglect. (see: foreignpolicy.com/2019/10/10/lib…)
They waited years after registering with UNHCR, hoping for legal evacuation, but say they felt abandoned. Image
A message from someone else in Zintan dc. Two detainees have died there in the last few months alone - one from a fire & one from heatstroke. (see irishtimes.com/news/world/afr… & irishtimes.com/news/world/afr…) #libya Image
"…local authorities started shooting when the migrants attempted to escape from the disembarkation point.
The injured migrants were transferred to local hospitals while survivors were moved to detention."
A third person has died, after being intercepted at sea by the EU-funded Libyan coastguard, & shot upon forced return to Libya.
"The three fatalities were Sudanese nationals. The remaining people who were disembarked were moved to detention." unhcr.org/news/press/202…
An EU statement on the killing of three Sudanese people who were caught at sea & brought back to Libya by the EU-funded coastguard. irishtimes.com/news/world/eur… Image
The Libyan coastguard is now claiming the three Sudanese people that were shot on Monday "were killed by mistake", while apparently saying they had tried to attack security forces & steal their weapons (Google translated from Italian) agenzianova.com/a/5f217a0a6859… ImageImage
The US has now also been involved in coordinating a "rescue" in the Mediterranean with the Libyan coastguard, where the 131 migrants/refugees are brought back to an unsafe country & likely locked up indefinitely.
MSF interviewed the witnesses & the victims (who survived) of the shooting on Monday. They say those shot were all 15-18 years old.
“Unarmed people were shot and killed just because they ran in despair to flee arbitrary detention. This is inconceivable.”
msf.org/people-shot-an…
"One of the two survivors is a relative of one of the three victims, who was shot dead in front of him."
"This is not the first time such tragic events have taken place in Libya – in a similar event, a Sudanese national was killed… in September 2019."
Tuberculosis reportedly spreading quickly among refugees/migrants put out on the streets from the GDF/detention centres.
They say the pandemic now means they can't get access to the UNHCR centre to get a medical referral, so many cases are going undiagnosed or w/o medication. ImageImageImage
MSF & Sea Watch will now go to sea together, in new ship. Despite COVID-19 challenges, "we see that recent state measures to discourage or block life-saving activities in Med – cloaked in public health rhetoric – are reckless & politically motivated," says MSF's Oliver Behn.
During a press briefing announcing their partnership, MSF is saying COVID-19 has marked a "new low" in terms of European migration policy. Here is a timeline of what has happened in the Mediterranean in the months since the pandemic escalated. Image
Part 2 ImageImageImage
Pt 3 of timeline. Image
Pt. 4 ImageImage
Meanwhile, more & more refugees/asylum seekers who spent years in Libya hoping for legal evacuation through the UN are now going to sea, acc to many sources.
Here's someone I'm talking to today. He says he's fed up of UNHCR not helping them, & I am referencing their weekly update ImageImageImageImage
On migrants seemingly now being transferred to "data-collection facilities" upon disembarkation in Libya - intended for the "investigation of smugglers".
“We feel the worst has happened, & that these locations are being used to smuggle or traffic people.” thenewhumanitarian.org/news-feature/2…
Libyan residents in Garagesh, Tripoli, (where most of the refugees/migrants kicked out of the GDF & dcs are now) seem to be threatening landlords with prosecution of some kind if they don’t evict all foreigners. Many refugees/migrants are poor, weak & massively panicking. ImageImage
Meanwhile, IOM says at least 364 children & minors have been caught at sea, trying to reach Europe, & forced back to Libya so far this year. Image
Letter to the Irish Times. Image
Five children among the 45 who drowned this week, in the largest recorded shipwreck off the Libyan coast this year, trying to reach Europe. unhcr.org/news/press/202…
One of the 45 people who drowned in the Mediterranean this week has been named as Sudanese writer Abdel Wahab Mohamed Youssef (known as Abdel Wahab Latinos). Here is one of his last public posts (with a likely flawed translation). ImageImage
At least four shipwrecks took place in the central Mediterranean between 17 and 20 August.
alarmphone.org/en/2020/08/23/…
Thread on Jemal, a 25-year-old Eritrean & another of those who tragically died in this month's shipwrecks.
Message today from one of the crew on board the Sea Watch 4: "Crew and survivors are totally exhausted. Some of these people, rescued at sea, have been on board for over a week. We are providing and emergency response, where states are failing to… 1/
"…Now, we are stranded at sea. Penalised for filling the gap that EU governments have left in the central Mediterranean, where they are leaving people to die with policies of non -assistance. This situation is beyond macabre." 2/
The Banksy-funded rescue ship Louise Michel, which was unable to move yesterday after rescuing more people than the ship could handle, has now transferred everyone onto Sea Watch 4, but the Sea Watch 4 still has no permission to dock anywhere.
- From a letter written by Mouliom Souleman, a Cameroonian rescued by the Sea Watch 4 rescue ship on August 23, 2020.
irishtimes.com/news/world/eur… #blacklivesmatter Image
Detainees in Khoms Souq al Khamis dc say UNHCR came today and told them they'll be taken to Tripoli in the next few days & put out on the streets (or "released"). "Is this fair after waiting 2 years?" one asked. They're frightened of violence, kidnapping etc. & want protection.
& from Friday: UN chief Antonio Guterres has called for the closure of all detention centres holding refugees & migrants in Libya, condemning what he described as human rights violations committed there. "Nothing can justify the horrendous conditions."
aljazeera.com/news/2020/09/c…
Acc to the secretary-general's report, 2,780+ people were being detained as of July 31 in centres across Libya. 22% of detainees were children.
"Children should never be detained, particularly when they are unaccompanied or separated from their parents."
People are always asking me how they can help refugees in Libya. @KitchaFitFit1 has been doing amazing work fundraising to help some of the most vulnerable (I've heard this from a lot of my contacts there too).
They’re still waiting to find out what will happen & when.
Adding this to my longer thread.
Latest UN Security Council briefing on Libya by UNSMIL Acting Special Representative in Libya, Stephanie Williams. "As of 21 August, almost 2,400 migrants & refugees are in official detention centres." "Libya cannot be considered as a safe port." unsmil.unmissions.org/sites/default/… Image
Refugees locked up for two years in a remote Libyan detention centre (Zintan) are calling for evacuation/relocation/a visit from the UN.
UNHCR says they haven't been able to access the centre since February.
irishtimes.com/news/world/afr…
Many of them have been locked up, w/o charge or trial, since they tried to cross the Med Sea to Europe years ago & were caught by the EU-backed Libyan coastguard. So they are there as a direct result of EU policy. Re-upping this because it's so shocking.
Speech by UNHCR high commissioner Filippo Grandi today at UNHCR's annual Executive Committee session "…Libya being the most egregious example of the risks refugees and migrants are exposed to…" unhcr.org/admin/hcspeech…
"Reducing search and rescue capacity, or impeding those who engage to save others, or pushing back people without due process, will not stop people from moving; it will only lead to more deaths and the further erosion of refugee protection."
"Resettlement to third countries remains a vital alternative at least for the most vulnerable… In 2019, just over 100,000 refugees were resettled; less than one half of one percent of the world’s refugees, in a constantly declining trend."
Another horrific death in Libya.
Sudanese in Tripoli protest in front of UNHCR's office, asking for medical assistance, evacuation, protection & an end to what they say is discrimination against them compared to other refugees. ImageImage
…& to forcibly return men, women, & children to a country where their lives are in grave danger.
(Messed up my thread so I'm adding this smaller thread - Oct 9-29 - in here)
Refugees in Zintan are to be put out on the streets in Tripoli after 2+ years locked up in the remote dc, & months in other dcs after they were caught at sea. At least 25 people have died since they were put in Zintan. 1/ ImageImageImage
(The 450 dinar they will be given I believe currently converts to about $68 in the local black market exchange rates - correct me if I'm wrong though). 2/ Image
I wrote recently about the situation for Zintan dc's refugees here: atmos.earth/libya-refugee-… 3/
Fifty asylum seekers have filed constitutional proceedings against the Maltese authorities, calling for damages for the alleged breach of rights they suffered in a pushback to Libya last April. timesofmalta.com/articles/view/…
Reports of another refugee killed in Garagesh, Tripoli, where hundreds of refugees/migrants have been living after they were evicted/released from detention centres. Image
More on this. "The United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for Libya, Yacoub El Hillo, strongly condemns the killing of a 15-year old Eritrean asylum seeker". He was "awaiting resettlement." Two others received head wounds.
The bodies of more than 70 people have washed up on the beach of al-Khums, in western Libya, after yet another devastating shipwreck in the Mediterranean, IOM reported on Thursday. theguardian.com/world/2020/nov…
Hearing from others that this Eritrean 15 yo was one of the hundreds made to leave the UNHCR-run GDF at the beginning of this year. He had been in Abu Salim dc before that, & was among the group that came to the GDF looking for help but were left w/o food.
“She tried hard and wanted to live, but fate was stronger."
A 17-month-old girl has died after her father tried to get her a life-saving evacuation from Libya.
UNHCR says few countries will accept refugees/asylum seekers with serious medical needs. irishtimes.com/news/world/afr…
Death of a 19-year-old Somali in Tripoli.
2 years, 4 months later, & dozens of deaths, Zintan dc is finally emptied. Please read my report into some of the horrors that happened there. When will there be accountability? #libya foreignpolicy.com/2019/10/10/lib…
Message today from a refugee in Libya, who has undergone years of detention, when I ask how he’s doing: “Still, we are breathing.”
U.N. agencies are pressing the European Union to end the growing practices of denying migrants their right to apply for asylum, collectively expulsing them and using violence against people trying to enter the bloc without authorization. apnews.com/article/europe…
Nearly eight months after the UN said it was launching an investigation into human rights abuses in Libya, the mission is yet to really start its work due to funding problems. - @saracreta thenewhumanitarian.org/news/2021/2/17…
Refugees protest today outside the UNHCR office in Garagesh, Tripoli. They are asking to be evacuated from Libya to safe countries. Many were locked up after trying to reach Europe, & spent years in detention centres (without charge) before they were “released” onto the streets.
The protesters are Eritreans who have fled one of the world’s most secretive & brutal dictatorships. #libya Image
UNHCR statement about today’s protest.
Letter from the Eritrean refugees in Tripoli calling for help. #libya ImageImageImage
From the latest UN Panel of Experts report on Libya. "With assistance from Italy, Malta and the European Union, and training by Turkey, the Libyan Coast Guard, operating under the Ministry of Defence, has ramped up its interception activity at sea." documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/… ImageImageImageImage
"Most of those brought back to Libya end up in facilities rife with human rights abuses, 100s remain unaccounted for… Colonel Abdelhafid linked the need for the dcs to (EU) migratory policy… 99% of migrants present in dcs had been intercepted at sea."
"The Minister of Interior, Fathi Bashagha, acknowledged the challenges posed by the situation in detention centres. He also tied their existence to the pressure exerted by a few European countries to prevent migrants from crossing the Mediterranean"
"The Panel pursued investigations into the Al-Nasr DC in Zawiyah (where Qasr bin Ghashir survivors were moved by the UN in 2019) & found its de facto manager, Osama, had committed several violations of int humanitarian law & int human rights law."
More heartbreak in the central Mediterranean. I’m talking to people who are still waiting to try & cross now, after years locked up & exploited in Libya. They know the risks but feel they have no other option.
"We called the Italian authorities at least 20 times. Last time we asked them for the number of the Libyan Coastguard, but they refused to give it to us. "
4,159 people who tried to cross the Mediterranean Sea to Europe, to reach safety, have been returned to Libya already this year, including 293 women & 224 children/minors.
Wrote an @IrishTimes report on these figures & the people waiting to cross. irishtimes.com/news/world/afr…
Nearly 500 people intercepted trying to reach Europe in the last 24 hours.
Italian prosecutors wiretapped journalists covering what’s happening to refugees in Libya & the Mediterranean. theguardian.com/world/2021/apr…
One now caught & locked up in detention again, another out of contact for 1.5 weeks. #libya
Rescues needed.
Good article with updates on the El Hiblu 3, the teenagers accused of hijacking a ship so the 100+ with them weren't forcibly returned to Libya. They're still on parole in Malta & facing terrorism charges. spiegel.de/international/…
Frightening update on the rescues needed this weekend.
Meanwhile...
Sudanese refugees protest in Tripoli today. They are calling for assistance, to be taken to a safe place, & to not be confused with mercenaries.
"We are victims of the system of genocide in Sudan & the ethnic cleansing of Darfur. South of the Blue Nile, Nuba Mountains & Kordofan" ImageImage
A statement:
"We are victims of violations and human rights.
We are victims of mass destruction.
We demand international protection by all human rights and humanitarian organizations.
We are not well."
#BlackLivesStillMatterInLibya
ImageImageImageImage
Prosecutors in Sicily alleged to have wiretapped conversations involving at least 15 journalists who report on migration in the central Mediterranean/Libya route.
One killed & two teenagers injured yesterday in Al-Mabani detention centre in Tripoli. Shots "fired indiscriminately into cells where detained people were held". #libya ImageImage
"The centres have become increasingly overcrowded since early February when there was a rise in active interceptions of migrants and refugees fleeing Libya by sea by the EU-funded Libyan Coast Guard."
Another Libya-based trafficker freed. "Abdel-Rahman Milad (aka Bija), who was sanctioned by the United Nations’ Security Council, walked free Sunday… less than four months after his arrest."
apnews.com/article/libya-…
In June 2018, the Security Council imposed sanctions on Milad & five other leaders of criminal networks engaged in trafficking… migrants from Libya. (Milad was) head of Coast Guard unit in Zawiya “consistently linked with violence against migrants”
Getting the news that a refugee I'm in touch with, who spent four years in Libya between smugglers, detention etc, has made it to Italy. He paid a smuggler (one of many attempts) & crossed the sea. There was no other way to reach safety. Now, he can finally make an asylum claim.
First call with him yesterday & he's totally elated. Often refugees who reach Europe have weeks before they can contact family/friends & say they're safe. They lose phones at sea or before. In the meantime, family have no idea if they're alive or not.
At least 120 asylum seekers feared dead after boat capsizes off Libyan coast.
theguardian.com/world/2021/apr…
More, from AlarmPhone, on this tragedy:
So where was the EU when Kidane - a trafficker accused of potentially moving tens of thousands of people through Libya towards Europe - was on trial? (He has since escaped & his victims have no justice)
vice.com/en/article/m7a…
My report on the shipwreck. European & Libyan officials accused of ignoring calls for help, leading to massive numbers of deaths (again). irishtimes.com/news/world/afr…
New review of the EU Trust Fund for Africa (which funds the Libyan coastguard to do Mediterranean interceptions, among other things).
"At the end of 2021, the last contracts of EUTF for Africa will be signed… over €4.8B committed since 2016."
ec.europa.eu/trustfundforaf…
Some important reporting published today on the way that Frontex coordinates with the Libyan coastguard to carry out interceptions of refugee boats in the central Mediterranean.
"Officials at Frontex in Warsaw are conscious of the fact that their main objective is to help keep refugees from reaching Europe’s shores. They often watch on their screens in the situation center how boats capsize in the Mediterranean…" spiegel.de/international/…
Eleven more deaths in the Mediterranean.
A group of 120 refugees saying they were scheduled for evacuation to Rwanda from Libya, but were turned back at the airport & they're going to be sent out on the streets again. They say the reason the flight didn't go ahead hasn't been explained to them. Trying to get more info.
More information on this from UNHCR. Image
"the national authorities contacted responded slowly, insufficiently or not at all… In all, approx 130 people are believed to have died" apnews.com/article/united…
"EU member states have used illegal operations to push back at least 40,000 asylum seekers from Europe’s borders during the pandemic, methods being linked to the death of more than 2,000 people, the Guardian can reveal." theguardian.com/global-develop…
Response from UNHCR high commissioner Filippo Grandi, during a press conference with EU home affairs commissioner, when asked if the EU's support of the Libyan coastguard constitutes pushbacks.
More than 60,000 have been intercepted/returned since 2017. Image
Adding to more than 7,000 intercepted/returned in the central Mediterranean this year, including more than 330 children.
Still no update on when this group will depart Libya for Rwanda. They're distressed & devastated. Refugee friends of the group are messaging me too saying if people chosen for evacuation can't even get out safely, where is the hope for the rest of them.
EU commissioner "said she was hopeful the EU could reach a deal with Tunisia to provide economic support in exchange for a commitment for Tunis to manage its borders" & "she was open to talks with Libyan PM Abdulhamid Dbeibah over a new migration accord"
dw.com/en/eu-seeks-mi…
Every one of these people is someone’s friend/daughter/son/father/mother. People are dying all the time like this - after spending years, in many cases, hoping for legal routes to safety - & most Europeans are oblivious.
More than 1,000 men, women & children, who tried to reach safety in Europe, forced back to Libya yesterday alone.
More than 11,700 people have been intercepted & returned to Libya this year, after they tried to cross the sea to reach safety in Europe. At least 677 have died in the central Mediterranean. Just 189 have been evacuated from Libya through the UN.
Nearly two years after the Tajoura migrant detention centre bombing & survivors are staging a peaceful protest outside the UN Refugee Agency in Tripoli asking why they aren’t being adequately helped. #WorldRefugeeDay #libya ImageImageImageImage
Following repeated incidents of violence towards refugees & migrants in two detention centres in Tripoli, Libya, MSF announces they are temporarily suspending work in the Mabani & Abu Salim dcs. msf.org/violence-again…
In Mabani, where c. 2,000 held: "MSF treated 19 patients suffering from injuries caused by the beating, including fractures, cuts, abrasions & blunt trauma. One unaccompanied child was left unable to walk after suffering serious wounds to the ankles."
In Abu Salim: "On 13 June, automatic weapons were fired on people… causing multiple casualties… For seven days following the incident, MSF teams were refused access to the detention centre."
"The increase in violence… goes together with the simultaneous significant rise in the number… intercepted at sea… As of 19 June, 14,000+ people had been intercepted & returned to Libya, exceeding the total number of forced returns for the whole of 2020
"lack of enough nutritious food [means] some women [are] unable to produce breastmilk to feed their babies. One woman told MSF she was so desperate to feed her 5-day-old baby she tried to give her ration of solid food to her infant so it wouldn’t starve."
Case of migrant tortured in Libyan detention raised in submission to the UN Human Rights Committee.
"Libya failed to protect an Eritrean national from being tortured & suffering other grave human rights violations… & must provide him with reparations"
redress.org/news/case-of-m…
Authorities in Garagesh in Tripoli, where many refugees are living precariously after being sent out from Libyan detention centres, are now threatening to arrest them, starting tomorrow. A lot of panic. (there of course may be mistakes in the Google Translate version attached). ImageImage
Survivors are marking the second anniversary of the Tajoura migrant detention centre bombing in Libya. Many remain there & they are still calling for help & evacuation.
More than 15,000 people have now been intercepted in the Mediterranean Sea & forcibly returned to Libya already this year - at least 250 last night alone.
Prosecutors in Sicily have launched an investigation against the Libyan coastguard after footage emerged appearing to show them firing on a boat of migrant families… the first time a European country has launched an investigation against them. theguardian.com/global-develop…
"On more than one occasion… lorries have turned up in the middle of the day to take people away from the camps towards what is presumed to be Libya. Despite the official raising the alarm there was 'no response in terms of reducing these risks & threats'"
Horrific violations in detention highlight Europe’s shameful role in forced returns to Libya - new Amnesty International report amnesty.org/en/latest/news…
Remarks to the Security Council by Ján Kubiš, Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Libya, and Head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya unsmil.unmissions.org/remarks-securi… ImageImage
So relieved to get messages from this group saying they're finally in Rwanda. They had such an ordeal - going to the airport for evacuation only to be told they wouldn't actually leave. "Finally it happened, that is the most important thing," one man says.
More people intercepted at sea & forced back to Libya already this year (20,257) than any other full year from 2017, when the EU began supporting the Libyan coastguard to stop refugees/migrants from reaching Europe.
"During the past four months, the Libyan Coast Guard has arrested about 800 Syrian youth who were trying to migrate to Europe through the Mediterranean from the Libyan shores". At least one is said to have died in detention on Aug 7. miragenews.com/hundreds-of-sy…
"They reported being subjected to humiliating treatment, as they were beaten with plastic pipes & were not provided with proper food or drinkable water.
The detainees are also forced to pay up to $1000 in exchange for their release through 'brokers'."
In 2021, more than half of all people departing Libya by sea, in the hopes of reaching Europe, have been intercepted and returned.
There have been rumours going around Garagesh, Tripoli, for weeks that refugees/migrants will be rounded up en masse & arrested. This is the area many "released" from detention centres over the past year went to. Today raids finally happened. #libya Image
Photos shared online, apparently of the aftermath of the raids, show refugees/migrants with their hands tied behind their backs. This is what many feared when they were put out on the streets from dcs or from the UNHCR GDF (now defunct). Image
A statement from the Norwegian Refugee Council on today’s raids in Tripoli. This is devastating & terrifying for refugees & migrants in Tripoli, so many of whom have been trying to get legally evacuated with the UN but there are so few spaces it’s all but impossible. #libya ImageImage
A reminder that more than 25,200 men, women & children have been forcibly returned to Libya this year alone, after they tried to cross the Mediterranean to reach Europe, & that this is being done with tens of millions of euro worth of support from the EU.
Refugees messaging me asking where is the UN as all this is happening. "I don't know why the UN is silent. Why is the UN not doing anything? Again we will be returned back to those hell prisons," one (who already spent 2+ years detained) said.
The raids come 3 days after UNHCR's Special Envoy for the Central Med - supposed to advocate for refugees on this route - was widely criticised for calling people making this crossing "economic migrants" before their asylum claims were assessed (which everyone has a right to). ImageImage
Local news reporting that 4,000 refugees/migrants were detained today in Tripoli. Again, many were previously locked up in horrific conditions (some for years) after trying to reach Europe & then “released” on the streets by the UN or Libyan authorities. Now detained again. Image
One killed & at least 15 injured during raids, UN says.
"Most of those persons arrested are now being arbitrarily detained." unsmil.unmissions.org/statement-unit…
"While the UN fully respects the State’ s sovereignty & supports its duty to maintain law & order, & protect the security… it calls on State authorities to respect at all times the human rights & dignity of all people, incl migrants & asylum-seekers."

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More from @sallyhayd

Sally Hayden Profile picture
14 Dec 19
I’m currently in Palermo, Sicily, where the @seaeyeorg’s Alan Kurdi rescue ship is about to begin another mission out on the Mediterranean, off the Libyan coast. We’ll be at sea for up to a month.
I’ll update on this thread.
irishtimes.com/news/world/eur… ImageImageImageImage
My first view of the Alan Kurdi ship on Thursday...
& the view waking up on it this morning. The crew is still doing training & expect to leave Palermo port in the next few days. Image
Read 20 tweets
Sally Hayden Profile picture
28 Jun 19
Photos from a man who says he’s among dozens of refugees camped outside UNHCR’s offices in Tripoli, hoping for help.
“Since the war has taking place in April I have face very difficult moments,I have gone to UNHCR office &there is no much help, the humanitarian situation is down” ImageImageImage
“Forcibly taking rescued people back to a war-torn country, having them imprisoned and tortured, is a crime that we will never commit.’’ theguardian.com/world/2019/jun… #libya
"I have white skin, I was born in a rich country, I have the right passport, I was allowed to attend three universities, and I graduated at the age of 23. I feel a moral obligation to help those people who did not have the foundations that I did." m.dw.com/en/what-drives…
Read 509 tweets
Sally Hayden Profile picture
3 Mar 19
I'm starting a new thread about the urgent situation at Libya's Triq al Sikka detention centre. As many as 30 refugees, incl 4-6 minors, are currently believed to be in an underground cell, where they may have been tortured as punishment for protesting.
aljazeera.com/news/2019/03/r…
These are pictures from the protest on Tuesday. Detainees were asking for a visit from the UN Refugee Agency, who they say guards repeatedly threaten to ban, & better conditions (they're locked inside all day & night, no sunlight or fresh air, some for 1 year or more). #Libya
This is the same centre where Somali refugee Abdulaziz burnt himself to death in October, after telling friends he had lost hope of getting out. It's also where there was a TB outbreak after infected detainees were left w/o medication for more than a month aljazeera.com/news/2018/11/l…
Read 27 tweets
Sally Hayden Profile picture
10 Feb 19
It seems an independent auditor came to Abu Salim today looking into UN activities. The guards told detainees in advance not to mention that they haven't been fed for months (some of their families are sending them money to buy food with instead, which guards take a cut from). ImageImageImageImage
Messages today from Qasr bin Ghashir dc, southern Tripoli, today, where they’re asking for evacuation & any organisation that can help them. ImageImage
Sorry for my confusion, the teenager above was being held in Qasr bin Ghashir, but has now been moved to the UNHCR facility in Tripoli for evacuation. He's asking for help for those he left behind. Image
Read 755 tweets
Sally Hayden Profile picture
27 Aug 18
For the last 24 hours I've been texting & calling with refugees in Libya. 500 are apparently stuck in a Tripoli prison w/o food & water after heavy fighting broke out two days ago. They say their guards ran away, leaving them alone.
These refugees are men, women & children. They tried to cross the Mediterranean earlier this year, but were found by Italian boats, who turned them over to the EU-backed Libyan coastguard, who put them in prison. The conditions were already terrible before the fighting started.
Oh the phone earlier I could hear children crying & what sounded like bombing in the distance. The refugees say everyone's incredibly frightened. "We hear machine guns, tanks, big bombs, last night from the roof it was all fire."
Read 293 tweets
Sally Hayden Profile picture
14 Jul 18
Big & exciting day today: I'm in the car with three Lord's Resistance Army defectors. We're on the way to Gulu, northern Uganda, where they'll be reunited with their families for the first time in 16 years. They look serious in this pic, but really everyone is all smiles (Thread)
They were kidnapped as children aged 9, 13 & 16, by the militia led by Joseph Kony, which was responsible for taking 10,000s of children from northern Uganda & forcing them to become child soldiers. Until this week they didn't even know their families were still alive.
They defected in Banda, northeast DRC (Democratic Republic of the Congo) a few weeks ago, & arrived in Kampala on Wednesday. Then they went through a few days of procedure & paperwork with the Ugandan government's Amnesty Commission (pic from there).
Read 27 tweets

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