Things I have seen in the rubble of Israeli air strikes in Lebanon over the past week (a thread). 1/


At least 1,449 people have been killed by Israeli attacks since September 16, according to Lebanon's health ministry, & the death toll continues to rise. More than one fifth of Lebanon's population have been displaced. 2/

I know many others have said the same but the lack of COVID restrictions in London is really astounding. Packed tubes and cinemas with the vast majority not wearing masks; no vaccine checks for bars/restaurants etc. UK new cases close to 50,000 a day. It’s my first time back in the UK since the pandemic started & it’s unlike anything I’ve seen anywhere else in terms of close spaces & lack of precautions. It’s impossible to keep yourself safe too when everyone around you refuses to wear a mask & there is no enforcement.

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… My first view of the Alan Kurdi ship on Thursday...

@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.

https://twitter.com/UNHCRLibya/status/1177314288618393601?s=20

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” “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'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

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). Messages today from Qasr bin Ghashir dc, southern Tripoli, today, where they’re asking for evacuation & any organisation that can help them.

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.

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.