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The new agreement between Italy and the Libyan coastguard came into effect on Sunday for a period of three years. Backed by the European Union, it will continue to provide financial assistance for Libya to train the Libyan coastguard for migrant rescue operations.

The renewal of a contraversial 2017 agreement between Italy and the Libyancoastguard governing migrants crossing the Mediterranean Sea officially enteredinto effect on Sunday, February 2 for a period of three years. Under the termsof the new agreement, which aims to curb the arrival of migrants in Europe, Italy will provide financial assistance to the Libyan authorities in order that the Libyancoastguard is trained in rescue operations.

Agreed to in October and supported by the European Union,the renewal of the accord is "beyond comprehension" for AmnestyInternational. According to the NGO, this "odious" agreement ignoresthe "suffering inflicted" on migrants in Libya. "Italy decidedto update this memorandum even though the situation in Libya is stillcatastrophic, even worse than three years ago. This is shocking," LolaSchulmann, Amnesty International's refugee and migrant advocacy officer, toldInfoMigrants. "In comparison to 2017, we now have more information onviolations committed by the Libyan coast guard and the conditions of detentionof migrants in Libya."As evidence of the deteriorating situation on the ground,the GDF transit center in Tripoli, run by the United Nations High Commissionerfor Refugees (UNHCR), in conjunction with the Libyan authorities, ceased operations at the end of January. The center had originally been set up to accommodate vulnerable refugees and asylum seekers pending evacuation to a third country. Hundreds of migrants have since been left to fend forthemselves as fighting in the area has intensified. Additionally, an internalreport on systematic human rights violations in Libyan detention centers,deaths, unexplained disappearances and corruption was released in November.

40,000 returnees to Libya since 2017

In effect, this agreement acknowledges the fact thatthe coordination of sea rescues off the coast of Libya is passed from the Maritime Rescue Coordination Center (MRCC) in Rome or Valletta,Malta, to the Libyan Coast guard, which was not the case prior to 2017. Migrants rescued in international waters, or what is designated the Libyan Search and Rescue zone must therefore be returned to Libya.

"Over the past three years, at least 40,000 people,including thousands of minors, have been intercepted at sea, sent back to Libyaand exposed to unimaginable suffering. This month alone, 947 people have beenintercepted," Marie Struthers, Director of Amnesty International's EuropeProgram, said in a statement.

Also responding to the agreement, the Council of Europecalled on Italy to "urgently suspend" its co-operation with theLibyan Coast Guard, citing "ample evidence" of "serious humanrights violations" against migrants and asylum seekers in Libya.

Lack of transparency

Beyond its consequences, the details of the agreement, inparticular the financial sums involved and the way in which they are to be used,remain unclear.

"In terms of actual support, according to our calculations, Italy hasgiven Libya 42 zodiac-type boats for rapid interception since 2017," saidSara Prestianni, a Libya specialist with the Italian NGO Arci, which helpsmigrants. "As far as the financial support provided by Rome is concerned,however, it is difficult to trace exact sums. Between 2017 and 2018, 91 million from the EU's Emergency Trust Fund for Africa was spent to train theLibyan coastguards in search and rescue missions. In addition,almost 40 million from the Italian National Fund for Africa was used tohelp Libya with border security, humanitarian aid and 'voluntary' returns."

The information given is considered insufficient, thinks Amnesty. "There is a realquestion of transparency in terms of funding," Schulmann said. "Howcan we be sure that this money isn't helping to run detention centers wherepeople are tortured and raped?"

'NGOs don't have any more access than before'

Faced with criticism, Italian Foreign Minister Luigi di Maiopromised in October that the government would improve the terms of the agreementby, among other things, involving "the United Nations and civil society more inimproving assistance to migrants" and increasing NGO access to Libyandetention centrers. Yet none of these things are in the current agreement,Amnesty International said.

"NGOs don't have any more access than before," Schulmannsaid. "Clearly, survivors' testimonies are not seen as sufficient evidenceand are even ignored in the development of migration policies."

Also read:Are Turkish ships working with the Libyan coastguard in the central Mediterranean?

Also read:When helping hurts -- Libya's controversial coast guard, Europe's go-to partner to stem migration

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Agreement between Italy and the Libyan coastguard renewed for three years - InfoMigrants

Enis oil production in Libya has halved to around 160,000 barrels per day, the Italian majors chief executive said on Thursday.

The situation in Libya is very difficult since for more than three weeks theres been a million barrels stuck, Claudio Descalzi said on the sidelines of a conference.

Descalzi said output was low, around 156,000-160,000 barrels per day compared to a previous 300,000 barrels.

Our concern is for the people. We have more than 5,000 people and we need to understand if we can pay their salaries, Descalzi said.

Libyas oil production had dropped sharply since groups loyal to eastern based commander Khalifa Haftar began a blockade on Jan. 18, closing ports and fields in the east and south.

Eni is the biggest foreign oil producer in Libya.Source: Reuters (Reporting by Giancarlo Navach, writing by Stephen Jewkes)

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Eni oil production in Libya halved to around 160000 boed CEO - Hellenic Shipping News Worldwide

By Sami Zaptia.

London, 5 February 2020:

The Second Libyan Real Estate Development Forum opened in the first of its two-day programme in Tunis today. The morning session on the role of urban planning rules and regulations threw up contrarian views on sequencing and how best to move forward in the short term.

Day one focused on the role of new urban development plans in developing the sector where some participants criticised the Libyan Urban Planning Authority for failing to provide the foundation for the development of Libyas real estate sector. One example was the fact that Libyas National Planning Councils Libya 2040 Vision, which includes a vision to improve urban planning, but the plan has not been implemented since 2013.

Those holding the view that current rules and regulations need to be changed or updated as a prerequisite to the sector developing say that the legacy laws represented the socialist regime prior to 2011 and that the new post 2011 Libya needs rules and laws that reflect the new political philosophy and outlook which enshrines and prioritises the private sector. They argued the Qaddafi regime implemented decrees without prior planning whereas post 2011 every citizen is claiming property appropriated by the state as theirs.

Others blame the impotence of successive post 2011 Libyan governments for the lack of progress in the sector. Husni Bey, Chairman of the Beysons Group, for example, lamented the fact that Libyan banks sit on over LD 105 bn of private sector deposits which are uninvested and looking for a safe and secure destination to invest in.

This, he added, has led to 70 percent of buildings in Libya being unplanned constructions outside the official urban plan because there has not been a comprehensive Libyan urban plan since 1978. The state was only concerned with urban plans for the public sector and not for the then unrecognized and discouraged private sector under the Qaddafi regime.

However, Bey adds, the state had and has failed in its own projects and has no funds available for development in general and for the real estate sector. He notes that 60 percent of Libyan non-oil development is in the real estate sector and only the private sector can succeed in developing the sector and for this it needs an urban plan.

However, Bey disagrees with the view that the sector cannot move forward until new sector legislation is enshrined. He says that view is used as an excuse for inaction and the status quo. He insists that there are ample existing laws of various quality that are unimplemented that would allow the sector to move forward. He insisted that this vital sector cannot wait until legislatures enshrine new laws and said the sector must utilise existing laws (such as investment law no 9 of 2010) which enable the private sector to invest.

The forum continues in its final day tomorrow.

The Second Libyan Real Estate Development Forum 5 to 6 February in Tunis

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The Second Libyan Real Estate Development Forum kicks off in Tunis with different views on how best to move forward | - Libya Herald

By Sami Zaptia.

Libya has struggled for decades with rubbish collection and recycling (Photo: Tripoli rubbish. From archives by Tom Westcott).

London, 5 February 2020:

The Municipality of Al-Beida claims that it has received Libyas first waste recycling plant, the eastern-based LANA state news agency reported Saturday.

The Municipality said this was part of the eastern based Libyan governments wider efforts to recycle waste in the eastern region and solve the ongoing problem of accumulated roadside waste.

Al-Beida Municipality reported that the recycling plant would be installed in the coming days next to it main garbage dump. It envisioned that it will contribute effectively and radically to the elimination of the phenomenon of garbage accumulation in the municipality and reduce its possible negative impact on citizens health.

It is worth recalling that there are efforts across Libyas political divide east and west to resolve Libyas perennial waste collection problem.

In July 2019, Libyas eastern based Prime Minister Abdalla Thinni discussed with the director of a German company specialized in garbage recycling and the production of electricity generated by garbage recycling a process mechanism for implementing such garbage recycling programmes in Libya.

The German company was reportedly invited to submit proposals on a BOT basis for the project through the eastern Ministry of Local Government.

Meanwhile, in western Libya various projects for waste collection/recycling were announced last year by Tajura, Sug Juma and the Municipality of Central Tripoli as well as the city of Misrata.

Eastern Libya invites BOT offer from German company to recycle waste for energy production

Ministry of Local Government offers municipality-wide recycling contract

Libyas Meteorological Centre forecasts rain and warns of impending environmental and health pollution cost of uncollected garbage

Tajura waste recycling project launched

Misrata invites offers to recycle citys rubbish

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Beida municipality claims it has received Libya's first waste recycling plant | - Libya Herald

Sudan's capital Khartoum saw protests on Sunday in front of the UAE's embassy for Abu Dhabi's recruitment of Sudanese nationals as mercenaries fighting in Libya and Yemen.

According to the families of the victims, an Emirati firm called Black Shield offered Sudanese nationals jobs in the UAE as security guards for hospitals and malls, which was also revealed by Emirati Affairs Website,citing Al Jazeera Mubashar as saying one of the Sudanese victim families called on the country's transitional government to intervene after a member of the family was lured to the UAE and forced into a military training camp three months ago.

Sudanese social media platforms shared images of samples of contracts offered to Sudanese nationals to work as security guards in the UAE by the Black Shield security company; the documents have been stamped by the Emirati embassy in Khartoum, according to the report.The activists said the UAE firm had an agent I Khartoum and he helped recruit about 3000 to supposedly work as security guards in the UAE.

The Guardian reported on December 25, 2019 the involvement of UAE in transferring mercenaries to fight in Libya, saying a new wave had arrived to fight for Khalifa Haftar - Abu Dhabi's ally in Libya.

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Protests in Sudan against UAE for recruiting Sudanese nationals to fight in Libya, Yemen - The Libya Observer