The UN accuses Libya of abandoning refugees in the desert

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Immigrants and refugees are being repatriated from Libya without considering whether they have the right to be offered international protection, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said in a statement released in Geneva yesterday.

Referring to the recent case of 18 refugees from Sudan, who were transferred to the desert and abandoned to their fate on the border with their homeland, the UN agency stressed that this is a normal experience for refugees in Libya. He added that 24 refugees from Eritrea are facing similar treatment.

Children and pregnant women are being treated in the same way, they are being repatriated without considering whether they need protection, while many are being held in camps and are not allowed to contact UN services, he insisted.

Such actions against people seeking asylum because they are in danger violate international law, he said, adding that migrants and refugees are rightly feared of being mistreated by transitional government forces or by traffickers.

Refugees deported from Libya are often forced to cover vast areas of the desert without food, water or shelter.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has called on the international community to assist Libya in building appropriate infrastructure to treat migrants and refugees in a dignified and humane manner.

Theoretically, Libya will hold presidential elections on December 24. But the selection committee has not yet released a full and final list of candidates and the process seems unlikely to be as planned.

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