Do you know that the Italian government is closing the ports? A Somali refugee, now in Libya, "will mean that we will die at sea. Better to hope, to leave, than to be trapped in Libya "
Sudanese, Eritreans, Somalis, Nigerians, Chadians cannot go back and it is impossible to stay in Libya. The only possibility is to leave with the traffickers towards the Italian coast. Now it's easier because the Libyan police forces and the coast guard no longer exist, evaporated. The command of the coast guard confirms that the patrols at sea have been suspended for six days.
Unchr also raises the alarm. In the last few hours, the agency has released a statement denouncing new cases of "rape, kidnapping and torture" committed against refugees, who are also being abused by criminal groups who disguise themselves as UNHCR agents. The task of the UN agency is to register and welcome all those involved in the latest fighting. Once identified, they are given food and emergency kits containing personal hygiene soaps, blankets, pajamas and food. We do not see the end of the emergency at all. The flow from Africa has decreased compared to last year. But it doesn't stop. We have no idea how many there are migrants in Libya. It is said three hundred thousand, half a million, even eight hundred thousand. But in truth nobody knows. We have registered it all over 55.000. But they represent only a partial percentage of attendance. In Libyan official detention centers, the accused of illegal immigration are between 6.000 and 8.000. Among these we have adapted 4.500, because they reflect the definition of refugees, they come from countries at war or from situations in which they can not return without risking their lives and therefore need international protection ". It is also necessary to assist about 1.800 Libyan families in their turn fleeing from the neighborhoods of Tripoli.
To all this is added the precariousness of tens of thousands of ex immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa who have lived and worked in Libya for many years. They had arrived there ever since Gaddafi's openings to "African brothers", but they never had citizenship.