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Samrawit* gazes into the distance as a light breeze ruffles the shawl around her face. She hugs herself tightly as a gust of wind blows in from Lake Mirayi in eastern Rwanda.

The 20-year-old Eritrean refugees current surroundings are peaceful and relaxed a far cry from the horrors she endured while in captivity in the hands of smugglers in Libya, where she was tortured, beaten and raped for almost two years.

I cant handle the memory of what I experienced in Libya, she says softly. I get very stressed sometimes because of what I went through.

Samrawit was evacuated to Rwanda last October, alongside 123 other refugees who had been in Libya. Around 258 asylum seekers mostly Eritreans, Somalis and Sudanese are currently accomodated in Gashora transit centre, some 55 kilometres from the capital, Kigali.

Samrawit left Eritrea following the departure of a close relative who fled military conscription, afraid for his life. With no family left in the country, she felt threatened and, facing the likelihood of forced recruitment herself, she decided to flee. On her search for safety, she was abducted and taken by human traffickers to a town in Sudan, near the border with Libya.

First they took us by force, and second they raped us, she says, crying softly. They threatened us with knives. How could I save myself?

Samrawit was held for two months in a traffickers camp in Kufra, in south-east Libya, where her captors initially demanded US$6,000 for her freedom. She was bought and sold by different groups of traffickers and smugglers, before finally ending up in Bani Walid, in the north-west, where she was held for a further eight months.

Her eyes fill with tears as she recalls the dreadful conditions captives faced there.

They did terrible things."

It was so crowded, you had to sleep on your side, she says. They fed us one plate of plain, undercooked macaroni a day. We were always hungry.

She adds that they barely had enough water and the toilets were dismal.

It was so dirty and so bad, especially for the women, because during our periods we could not wash up.

She adds that the traffickers would demand money and then beat and torture them.

They did terrible things. They would beat us with rubber pipes and rape the women in the open or under cars, she says.

Samrawit wrings her hands as she recalls how they would torture the male captives.

They would melt plastic and burn their hands and sometimes they would tie them and plunge their heads underwater.

Samrawit holds a crucifix her only remaining possession from home at the UNHCR Emergency Transit Centre in Gashora, Rwanda.UNHCR/Alissa Everett

Samrawit survived an attempt to cross the Mediterranean on a boat which sank before she was returned to Libya then finally evacuated by UNHCR to Rwanda's Emergency Transit Centre.UNHCR/Alissa Everett

In her search for safety, Samrawit was taken by traffickers, tortured and raped multiple times. Her family was forced to pay a ransom for her release. UNHCR/Alissa Everett

Samrawit and other refugees at UNHCR's Emergency Transit Centre in Gashora, Rwanda receive counselling and psychosocial support.UNHCR/Alissa Everett

A report published by UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and the Mixed Migration Centre at the Danish Refugee Council, titled On this journey, no one cares if you live or die,details how hundreds of refugees and migrants are dying each year on desperate journeys from West and East Africa towards and through Libya and Egypt.

Thousands more endure extreme human rights abuses and violations, including killings, torture, extortion, sexual violence and forced labour at the hands of smugglers, traffickers, militias and some State authorities.

In a list of recommendations, UNHCR and MMC are calling on states to do far more to identify and protect survivors of abuses on the routes and to hold the perpetrators of these acts accountable, including through criminal prosecutions and sanctions.

Samrawit was forced to reach out to her extended family, who in turn contacted her elder brother. Together, they raised a total of US$12,000 which covered her ransom and secured a space on a boat to Europe.

As she speaks, she tugs absentmindedly at a colourful bracelet on her wrist.

I got this from a friend in Libya. He made it for me, she says, adding that he remained in one of the detention centres. I really worry about him because I know how bad the situation is back there.

She recounts vividly how last July, the smugglers finally took 350 of them to the Mediterranean coast to attempt the crossing to Europe.

We left at midnight and after a few hours the boat started to sink, she says.

About 150 people died in the incident one of the deadliest shipwrecks in recent years. Out of all the survivors, only four were women, including Samrawit.

Luckily, I was able to swim but I cant really say its because of this I survived. Its God who saved me, she says, adding that she swam for over eight hours, ending up back on the Libyan shore.

They were found there by the Libyan authorities and eventually held in an official detention centre to which UNHCR had access.

Tired, scared, dirty and hungry, they were registered by UNHCR and given first aid. They were then taken through an assessment process to identify those most vulnerable. Due to the limited number of available evacuation and resettlement places, efforts are usually made to prioritise those most in need, often including unaccompanied children, survivors of torture and other abuses and people in need of urgent medical treatment.

We identify their needs and link them with social workers for counselling."

Samrawit was among those identified as highly vulnerable and evacuated to Rwanda where UNHCR and partner agencies provide life-saving assistance, including food, water, medical care, psychosocial support and accommodation.

Margaret Mahoro, an education and livelihoods coordinator with the American Refugee Committee, a UNHCR partner, outlines why this support is critical.

We identify their needs and link them with social workers for counselling, she explains. Where they need special treatment, we refer them to doctors, including psychiatrists.

The evacuees have been given asylum-seeker status in Rwanda as their cases are assessed and further solutions are pursued.

Since December 2018, UNHCR has evacuated nearly 2,000 refugees and asylum seekers from Libya. Some 2,500 refugees and migrants remain extremely vulnerable inside official detention centres.

Since her arrival, Samrawit has spoken to her brother twice and assured him of her safety.

I am relieved because I didnt get pregnant or get a sexually transmitted disease, she says of her long ordeal. Theres a big difference now. Its like the distance between heaven and earth.

While she hopes to be reunited with her brother, she is focusing on her healing and has taken up English classes and is considering a sewing course.

I need to occupy my mind instead of worrying and remembering the bad things that happened, she says.

Samrawit was resettled to Sweden, as part of UNHCRs resettlement programme for highly vulnerable refugees.

*Namechanged for protection reasons.

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Refugee survivors of sexual abuse find help in Rwanda - UNHCR

20 June 2020 -- The World Health Organization has urged all armed groups in Libya to allow humanitarian agencies to obtain access to health care facilities on the ground, especially in the south, to help combat the recent surge in cases of COVID-19, mainly in the south of the country.

"Humanitarian agencies must be able to safely enter all areas of the country to deliver critical medicines, supplies and personal protection equipment to frontline health care staff treating COVID-19 patients", said Ms Elizabeth Hoff, WHO Representative in Libya. "It is essential that medical aid reach the most vulnerable communities displaced by fighting and people who face the twin horrors of conflict and pandemic. Unfettered access to health care is a human right, now more than ever."

As of 17 June 2020, there were 467 confirmed cases of COVID-19 infections in Libya, with ten deaths and 70 recoveries. Thus far, a total of 18 485 tests to detect COsVID-19 has been administered. The majority of cases are in Sebha municipality in the south, a major hub on the migration route from Africa to Europe. Between 26 May and 9 June 2020, there was an eightfold increase in COVID-19 cases in Sebha.

In recent weeks, more than 24 000 people have been displaced due to the fighting. Most of them are living in overcrowded conditions that allow for the easy spread of the virus. In addition, the country's health system is near collapse, with three quarters of Primary Health Care Clinics not functioning due to shortages in medical staff, supplies, medicine, and equipment. These shortages have made it difficult to assess the true impact of COVID-19 on the population. The paucity of early detection "sentinel sites" means that infections can go undetected for weeks, allowing COVID-19 to spread easily within communities. WHO is working with health authorities and partners to enhance disease surveillance and monitoring and deliver critical supplies to support the response to COVID-19. WHO has delivered laboratory equipment, test kits and personal protection equipment (PPE) to the health authorities for distribution throughout the country. A new consignment of PPE and laboratory reagents is expected to arrive in Benghazi shortly.

The Organization is also working to maintain other essential health care services.To meet the health needs of thousands of displaced people from Tarhouna (south of Tripoli), in eearly June WHO delivered essential health supplies to Al Jufra, Ashshwayrif, Ejdabia, Benghazi and other locations hosting people from Tarhouna. It also delivered health supplies for displaced people fleeing conflict in south Tripoli. The supplies were sent from WHO's logistics hub in Dubai and include trauma kits as well as medicines to treat communicable and noncommunicable diseases.

Vaccination is a critical public health concern. WHO and UNICEF have recently raised the alarm over severe shortages of vaccines in Libya that are putting more than 250 000 children at risk of life-threatening diseases such as measles and polio. Vaccination is essential to maintain population immunity against the epidemic-prone diseases that cause high childhood morbidity and mortality, yet access to vaccination services has been disrupted because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, supplies of many critical vaccines are expected to run out by mid-June.

"Health needs in Libya are immense, and Libyans are now also facing the additional threat of COVID-19," said Hoff. "Without a ceasefire and sustainable access to all areas across the country, people will continue to die unnecessarily, and children will be exposed to diseases that are entirely preventable with proper vaccination. We cannot allow this to happen."

WHO has requested US$ 3.3 million to support the response to COVID-19 in Libya. Thus far, it has received US$ 2.95 million in contributions and firm pledges, including from China, the UK, France, Canada, Norway and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

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Libya: Fighting COVID-19 in times of conflict - Libya - ReliefWeb

TUNIS The proposed project of creating a national guard in Libya is once again at the centre of controversy. The project was promoted by the Tripoli government to circumvent regional and international demands, especially American calls for the disbanding and dismantling of the militias in Libya.

Implementing the idea, however, is easier said than done since militia leaders have sharp differences in positions and do not hesitate to vilify and accuse each other of treason. There are indications that the militias are unhappy with and preparing to resist Interior Minister Fathi Bashaghas approach to choosing militias that will join this new security apparatus based on classifying the various militias as either halal or haram.

It is expected that Bashagha, who is affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, will take advantage of this opportunity to get rid of militias that stand in the way of tightening his grip and the grip of his hometown Misrata on the gears and cogs of the state. At the top of the troublesome militias for Bashagha are the Tripoli militias and, to a lesser extent, the Zawiya and Zintan militias.

It also seems that Turkey has opted to stir up the controversy created by the project of a national guard.

In a recent report titled The Libyan National Guard a necessary choice, the official Turkish news agency, Anadolu, brought the subject back to the fore and tried to find justifications for it. This is in tune with Turkeys aggressive goals and the Muslim Brotherhoods agenda in the region.

Refocusing on the subject at this particular time does not seem isolated from the general state of hysteria that has gripped Turkey following the destruction of its air defences and military equipment at the al-Watiya base southwest of Tripoli. It is, in fact, rather closely connected to it, as Ankara is trying to first, divert attention from its losses in al-Watiya, second, please the Americans and third, accelerate the approval of its project in order to clinch the deal of creating, training and arming the new-born apparatus, which is worth billions of dollars.

In its report, Anadolu said that the demobilisation, dismantling and reintegration of the militias, is an American plan to rebuild the Libyan army, but it is a necessary step to move from the stage of the revolution to the stage of state-building.

But what the news agency seemed to intentionally and conveniently ignore in its report is the fact that Turkey would be the biggest beneficiary of the creation of the new security apparatus in Libya, not only as a cover for its continued military presence in Libya but also to overturn the balances of military forces throughout Libya.

Observers believe that pushing this project to the forefront again does not deviate from the context of the manoeuvres aimed at rearranging the security and military conditions in western Libya towards drawing new equations that enable the militias loyal to the Turkey-backed Tripoli government (the Government of National Accord) to dispose of tools and mechanisms with which they can meet the upcoming challenges in Libya. This new National Guard apparatus would be a reproduction of Turkeys own Gendarmerie corps that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan turned into the stick with which he continues to beat his political opponents.

In this context, the head of the Defence and National Security Committee at the former Libyan National Congress, Abdel Moneim al-Yassir, considered in media statements that the National Guard that the GNA wants to establish is nothing less than a demonic terrorist tool that Turkey and the Brotherhood will use to destroy the entire region.

He warned that the Turkish coloniser did not come to Libya alone, but rather with a conspiracy, and what is happening now is to open the way for the Muslim Brotherhood and Turkey to be in North Africa for greater goals than just controlling Libya, calling at the same time on the leaders of the armed groups and militias in Tripoli to wake up before it is too late.

This warning reflects the magnitude of the danger felt by the Libyans as a result of this project, which aims to provide legal cover for the militias, in order to keep them as a card and a tool for sabotage in the service of Turkish agendas in the region, by merging them into one body parallel to the Libyan army.

Early this month, Mohamed Ali al-Mahdi al-Sharif, chief of the general staff of the GNA-affiliated forces, submitted a memorandum to Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj suggesting the creation of a national guard that would be based in Tripoli and headed by an officer with the rank of colonel or above.

This memorandum came in the wake of work by the committee formed by Sarraj tasked with preparing a comprehensive vision to integrate the militias supporting his government, as part of his implementation of the American guidelines he received during his meeting at Zuwara with General Stephen Townsend, commander of the US Africa Command (AFRICOM), and US Ambassador to Libya Richard Norland.

=Bashagha took charge of implementing the project. Before that and on May 20, Bashagha had addressed a memo to the Governor of the Central Bank in Tripoli, Sadiq al-Kabir, asking him to stop dealing with some militia leaders and to freeze their assets and accounts. Following the move, it was leaked that Bashagha handed the Turks a list of 34 names of militia members in the cities of Tripoli, Zawiya and Sabratha that he wanted to get rid of.

These leaks sparked sharp disagreements within the militias, which escalated to the point of fire exchanges, while the militia leaders gathered in front of the central bank in downtown Tripoli at a time when Libyan security sources voiced their fears that the coming days would witness a dangerous escalation by the militias that might lead to assassinations.

Sources noted that some people in Tripoli close to Bashagha are circulating a list of names of dozens of militia members who are said to have been targeted for assassination. They also reported the arrest of dozens of members of the Tripoli Revolutionaries Battalion, led by Haitham al-Tajuri, who does not hide his differences with the Misrata militia and the Turkish military operations room.

Sources also pointed out that among the targeted armed groups there are the Nawasi Brigade, led by Mustafa Kaddour, accused by Bashagha of infiltrating the intelligence services and state institutions, and the Bab Tajura Brigade led by Al-Azhari Finan, and also the armed forces of the Central Security led by Abdul-Ghani al-Kikli, who is one of the most prominent warlords in Libya.

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In joining 'Libyan National Guard', some militias are halal, others haram | Jemai Guesmi - The Arab Weekly

A Libyan spy who worked for Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's brutal secret police has a legal battle to be granted asylum in the UK.

The 30-year-old man, named only as MS in court documents, was a member of Libya's feared Internal Security Service (ISS) and reported on students and neighbours suspected of opposing the regime.

A UK court has upheld his claim that if he is deported to Libya he faces persecution and torture in his home country.

The case follows revelations in Sunday Telegraph that the Home Office has secretly excluded from Britain the prime suspect in the murder of WPC Yvonne Fletcher.

Libyan Saleh Ibrahim Mabrouk, who had claimed asylum in 2011 after the fall of Gaddafi, was stopped from returning to the UK after he visited Libya last year.

Last night Andrew Bridgen, Conservative MP for North West Leicestershire, told the Sunday Telegraph: 'The British sense of fair play is being stretched beyond its elastic limit by what appear to be ludicrous judgments granted to refugees and asylum seekers.'

In the new case, MS, who worked in one of Gaddafi's prisons, fled Libya for the UK after the fall of the regime.

He sought asylum in 2013 claiming protection under the Human Rights Act, saying if he returned to Libya he would suffer retribution from those whom he had informed on.

He also said he feared being tortured by Gaddafi's enemies.

Initially, his claim for asylum was refused by the Home Secretary on the grounds that he had 'aided and abetted crimes against humanity' through his work with the secret police.

Home Office lawyers argued that four students, a university lecturer and a neighbour were all arrested by Gaddafi's feared Internal Security Service after MS passed on his intelligence.

Some of them were held in Jdeida Prison were MS later worked.

The Home Secretary said that the Gaddafi regime 'engaged in widespread or systematic attacks directed against the civilian population, namely by detaining, torturing and killing (in particular by the ISS) opponents of the regime with particular reference to the period leading up to the Libyan Revolution in 2011'.

Government lawyers argued that MS's involvement in crimes against humanity meant he fell outside the protection of the international conventions for the protection of refugees.

But MS appealed the decision, arguing that he did not know that Gaddafi and the ISS were involved in torture and murder.

Now a judge has ruled in MS's favour, upholding his appeal in the Upper Immigration Tribunal.

In his written judgement Judge Andrew Grubb said: "I am satisfied that the judge [the first to hear his appeal] reached a rational finding for sustainable reasons that the appellant was to be believed and that, as a result, it had not been established that there were "serious reasons" to consider that he was guilty of a crime against humanity through his involvement in the ISA (ISS) between 2010 and 2011.

The judge was entitled to reject the Secretary of State's reliance on Art 1F(a) [of the Refugee Convention] and to allow the appellant's appeal on asylum grounds."

Last week Boris Johnson told the House of Commons that he will consider reopening the criminal inquiry into the prime suspect linked to the murder of WPC Yvonne Fletcher.

The Prime Minister made the pledge after The Sunday Telegraph reported that Saleh Ibrahim Mabrouk had been arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to murder in 2015, but the case against him was controversially dropped on the grounds of national security in 2017.

WPC Fletcher was shot dead outside the Libyan embassy in London in 1984. Mabrouk is the only person that was ever arrested in connection with WPC Fletcher's murder.

Hewas a senior member of the 'revolutionary committee' that ran the Libyan embassy at the time of the murder.

He was expelled from Britain in the aftermath but allowed back in 2000 after Tony Blair restored relations with Libya.

In 2011 Mabrouk returned to live in Berkshire after claiming asylum in the UK. He was arrested in 2015 in connection with the murder but was told two years later the case would not go forward.

Excerpt from:
Libyan spy who worked for Colonel Gaddafi's regime in legal battle to remain in UK - Telegraph.co.uk

The Libyan General Staff proposed to the Head of Presidential Council Fayez Al-Sarraj, as the Chief Commander of the Army, the formation of National Guard to contain the backup forces and to ensure Libya remains a civilian state.

The proposal came in a letter sent by the Chief of Staff Mohammed Al-Sharif to Al-Sarraj on Wednesday.

The proposal says the National Guard would be tasked with confronting threats to the civilian state and help Libyan Army forces defend Libya's sovereignty and unity, as well as being headquartered in Tripoli and headed by an officer with a rank of Colonel, at the lowest, to be appointed by Libya Army Chief Commander.

"Joining the National Guard would be through recruitment, appointment, transfer, mandate or circulation." The proposal adds.

The Libyan Interior Ministry held meetings with the General Staff over the last period to come up with proposals to allow armed factions that helped defend Tripoli to join state security and military institutions.

The formation of a National Guard has been circulated in Libya since 2012, yet some parties have been hindering its formation for partisan and ideological reasons.

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Libyan General Staff proposes formation of National Guard to contain armed factions - The Libya Observer