The Migration and Refugee Forum for the Arab World (MARFA)condemns the hideous mass murder that took the lives of 30 migrants and injured 11 others in Muzdah, western Libya. The crime comes in retaliation for the death of a human trafficker, a Libyan citizen accused of smuggling migrants, killed by a number of migrants while smuggling them, according to an official statement of the Libyan Ministry of Interior of Al-Wefaq government, which opened an investigation into the incident on Thursday 28 May 2020. The family of the murdered human trafficker killed 26 Bangladeshi and 4 African immigrants and wounded 11 others.

MARFA supports the Libyan government in its efforts to prosecute the perpetrators of this murder, and demands that they be brought to justice, stressing the necessity of concerted local, regional and international efforts to control human smuggling and trafficking, and to limit the exacerbation of the phenomenon human traffickers taking advantage of the instability and security situation in Libya to exploit the vulnerability of these migrants.

Libya is considered a transit point for migrants to Europe, the Libyan authorities first recognize refugees in the case of "Somali" refugees who were brought to Libya in 1995 from Saudi Arabia. However, the chaos that engulfed Libya in the aftermath of the fall of Muammar Gaddafi, led to the transformation of the country into one of the main illegal immigration points towards the European continent, for migrants fleeing poverty, persecution, wars or conflicts in Africa and the Middle East.

In the absence of the rule of law, Libya is witnessing similar crimes, for example the Migrant Detention Center in Tajura was bombed in June 2019, which resulted in the death of 40 victims of migrants and asylum seekers. This instability and critical security conditions also make these migrants vulnerable to the exploitation of human traffickers, especially when held in unofficial detention centers, which is usually the case, as about four thousand people who were rescued at sea were returned to Libya's unofficial detention centers in 2020, according to informed international sources. IOM has also previously reported the disappearances of hundreds, if not thousands, of those who were returned by the Coast Guard to Libya to these facilities, and the inability to identify their whereabouts.

The continuation of violations and inhuman crimes against refugees in Libya reaffirms the need of restoring security, resolving the conflict in the country, and enforcing the law as a prerequisite to protect migrants and citizens from any attack or exploitation. The death toll from the clashes in the suburbs of Tripoli, from April 4, 2020 uptill now, reached 5023 dead, including 634 civilians (49 medical personnel, 76 women and 93 children) in addition tp 15,439 wounded.

As thus, MARFA calls on the Libyan authorities to:

·      Activate the rule of law and all accountability for violations of human rights and crimes against migrants

·      Build real cooperation with the UNHCR by signing international protocols and agreements such as the 1951 Refugee Convention, which work to preserve and protect the rights of migrants.

·      Fulfill its obligations in accordance with the agreement governing the various aspects of refugee problems in Africa and the need to legitimize the work of the High Commissioner for Refugees by signing a memorandum of understanding between them.

MARFA also sends an urgent appeal to the international community asking it to open channels of legal immigration, and to develop an alternative scheme for safe landing of boats, whereby migrants are transported to safe heavens away from conflicts and violence to guarantee their human dignity and protection. In addition to not interfering in the internal affairs of the countries of the southern Mediterranean and working instead to promote development and stability and enable people to solve conflicts in the countries of the south.

*The Migration and Refugee Forum for the Arab World (MARFA) emerged in response to a heartfelt need to collectively work on advocating rights and raising awareness on issues in the region related to migrants, refugees, statelessness and the Arab diaspora through policy level intervention.