Hundreds protest in Libya outside UN agency against undocumented migrants

Protesters impeach the UN of settling undocumented migrants successful the country, a assertion the bureau rejects.

Hundreds of Libyans person gathered extracurricular the UN exile bureau (UNHCR) office successful Tripoli to protestation against undocumented migrants that they accidental should permission Libya.

Protesters connected Thursday chanted “Libya belongs to Libyans” and called for the closure of the UNHCR office successful the capital. They were seen holding signs reading: “Our emotion for our state is not racism” and “Libya is not the world’s garbage bin.”

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Demonstrators accused the UN bureau of seeking to settee undocumented migrants successful the North African country.

Since a NATO-backed uprising successful ⁠2011, Libya has go a transit way for hundreds of thousands of migrants fleeing struggle and poverty, often from sub-Saharan Africa, with galore risking unsafe journeys crossed the ⁠desert oregon the Mediterranean.

The UN bureau successful Libya, UNSMIL, affirmed the rights of each Libyans to explicit their opinions, but warned astir the dispersed of “misleading accusation and hatred speech” regarding its enactment successful the country, “which contributes to accrued tensions and incitement against the UN nationalist and planetary officials”.

Libyans instrumentality portion successful a objection successful beforehand of the UNHCR bureau successful Tripoli connected June 4, 2026, demanding the departure and closure of the UNHCR offices and declaring ‘No to overseas colony successful Libya’ [AFP]

UN agencies “are not implementing immoderate programmes to resettle migrants successful Libya and each claims against that are wholly unhealthy”, the ngo said successful a connection connected Thursday.

The UN High Commission for Refugees Affairs is “working to find solutions extracurricular Libya for radical fleeing wars, conflicts and persecution, including evacuation to 3rd countries, and voluntary instrumentality to their countries erstwhile circumstances allow”, it added.

It besides condemned immoderate incitement of unit oregon threats targeting UN staff, arsenic good arsenic acts of vandalism and attacks connected its unit and property.

Thursday’s was the largest of respective caller anti-migrant demonstrations successful Libya, with immoderate of the Libyan colonisation opening to blasted them for societal and economical problems that person go much disposable during 15 years of struggle and governmental part successful the North African country.

They erected tents, past brought a motortruck afloat ⁠of soil and closed the main gross of the gathering ⁠with a barrier, shouting, “The Libyan radical person said their word,” and carrying signs speechmaking “No to intruders successful our country, instrumentality them out.”

Libya, with an estimated full colonisation of astir 7 million, hosts astir ⁠900,000 migrants, according to International Organization for Migration estimates. Many are Sudanese refugees who person fled the civilian warfare successful their location country.