Thread by @saracreta

Little #thread about @UNHCRLibya & their registration process in #Libya.

According to the UNHCR, registration is an important tool in ensuring the integrity of refugee protection systems & preventing fraud, corruption & crime, including trafficking. unhcr.org/en-ie/registra…

In #Libya, UNHCR is registering asylum seekers & refugees only belonging to 9 nationalities.

1.Iraqi
2.Syrian
3.Palestinian
4.Sudanese
5.South Sudanese
6.Eritrea
7. Ethiopian
8.Yemeni
9.Somali

Full data data2.unhcr.org/en/country/lby

In #Libya, I met with people people in detention, like John, who has been held in Tarik Al Sika Detention Center for more than 2 years. He only received a piece of paper from UNHCR with his registration number.

In #Tripoli, I have met with Libya’s Undersecretary of the Ministry of Interior for #Migration, Mohammed Al-Shibani. He said that on the contrary the #Libya-n government is not refusing to register other nationalities. “The nationalities are determined by the UN not by us”.

I have then spoken with a former @UNHCRLibya staff, who told me that in #Libya asylum seekers were registered under incorrect nationalities & the aforementioned concentration on 9 specified nationalities was put in place in order to keep numbers down.
euronews.com/2019/10/03/unh…

In December, migrants & refugees detained in #Khoms Suq al-Khamis started a hunger strike to persuade @UNHCRLibya to visit the centre & register them in the hope that this might stop them from being sold and disappeared.

The reality is that people keep disappearing from detention centres on a daily basis.

Registration is a right for asylum seekers & refugees wherever they are, but in #Libya being registered do not offer any form of protection.

In al-Khoms, in one week at least 100 detainees disappeared & despite the closure of the centre, the #Libya-n coast guard continued to bring refugees to al-Khoms detention centre. euronews.com/2019/10/03/unh…

On UNHCR registration of asylum seekers in #Libya.

When I met Mohammed Al-Shibani, the Undersecretary for Immigration Affairs of the Libyan Interior Ministry, he confirmed that the Libyan government is not refusing to register other nationalities. euronews.com/2019/10/03/unh…

Many new ambiguities & still severe lack of transparency on @UNHCRLibya operations in #Libya. UNHCR has now publicly stated that they are NOW able to register refugees of all nationalities. Although this seems a good news, nothing has changed on the ground. We are still waiting.

There are still a lot of questions about #Libya and UNHCR that remain publicly unanswered.

Full list from @JFCrisp

https://twitter.com/JFCrisp/status/1140653752409559040?s=20