UN says Libyan guards opened fire on fleeing migrants after airstrike on detention centre
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The United Nations said on Thursday it had information that Libyan guards shot at refugees and migrants trying to flee from airstrikes that killed at least 53 people, including six children, in a migrant detention centre late on Tuesday.
A U.N. humanitarian report said there were two airstrikes, one hitting an unoccupied garage and one hitting a hangar containing around 120 refugees and migrants.
“There are reports that following the first impact, some refugees and migrants were fired upon by guards as they tried to escape,” the U.N. report said.
Refugees and migrants who survived a deadly attack on a detention centre in Libyan capital Tripoli are calling for evacuation, while blaming European Union policy and United Nations ineffectiveness for leaving them unprotected in a war zone.
Refugees and migrants detained in Tajoura have been warning for months that they were in serious danger, due to the complex they’re in also being used as a military base by a militia aligned with the Tripoli-based government.
At least 40 refugees and migrants were killed and many more injured after air strikes hit the migrant detention centre in Tajoura, eastern Tripoli, late on Tuesday night.
The Tripoli-based government of national accord (GNA) and their adversaries, the forces of Khalifa Haftar the self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA) are blaming each other for the air strike.
The UN envoy to Libya, Ghassan Salame, said the attack “clearly could constitute a war crime”.
Blood marks and cloth belong to migrants killed after the air strike on the detention center in Tripoli’s, Libya. Photo: EPA-EFE/STR
On the other hand, the UN Security Council did not issue a statement condemning the bombing in Libya after the US reportedly did not endorse it. Washington earlier criticized the attack as “abhorrent,” but did not call for a ceasefire.
The UN Security Council held a closed emergency session on Wednesday evening to draft a response to the killing in the air strike on a migrant and refugee detention center.
In a joint statement, the United Nations Refugee Agency and the International Organisation for Migration – both of which work in the detention centre – said they strongly condemned “this and any attack on civilian life”.
The US State Department also issued the following statement regarding this week’s attack in Libya.
The United States strongly condemns the abhorrent attack on a migrant detention facility in Tajoura, Libya, which reportedly killed 44 and injured more than 100 innocent civilians. We extend our deepest condolences to families of those killed and wish a speedy recovery to those injured. This tragic and needless loss of life, which impacted one of the most vulnerable populations, underscores the urgent need for all Libyan parties to de-escalate fighting in Tripoli and return to the political process, which is the only viable path to lasting peace and stability in Libya.
