Libyans Protest Outside UN Refugee Office in Tripoli Over 900,000 Migrants in Country of 7 Million
Demonstrators in Tripoli's Sarraj neighbourhood closed the UNHCR building with sand barriers and chanted against migrant settlement on June 4. The protest was the largest of several recent actions against migrants in Libya.
nbcnews.comN. refugee agency's office in Tripoli on June 4 by erecting tents and using a truck full of sand to create a barrier.
Mission in Libya. Thursday's protest was the largest of several recent demonstrations against migrants. Some demonstrators displayed a poster with a crossed-out picture of Tripoli's Chief of Mission at UNHCR, Sakhr Karmen, and spray-painted walls calling for the organisation to leave the country.
N. Since a NATO-backed uprising in 2011, the country has become a North African transit route for hundreds of thousands of migrants fleeing conflict and poverty, often in sub-Saharan Africa. The oil-dependent Libyan economy draws migrants seeking work, many of whom take jobs in cleaning and construction that Libyans are reluctant to fill.
Some Libyans blame migrants for social and economic problems that have become more visible during 15 years of conflict and political division. Ahmad al-Ghasa, one of the demonstrators, said he blamed migrants for break-ins and assaults and complained that they slept in the streets. "These phenomena were not present in Libyan society before," he said.
He told the Libya Alahrar channel that "Libya is not capable of handling these numbers" and that Libyans should not blame others for political and security problems leading to higher migrant numbers. N. staff or premises.
N. resettlement programme in Libya and noted that UNHCR works to help people fleeing war with solutions outside Libya, including evacuation to third countries and voluntary return when conditions allow. UNHCR did not respond to a request for comment.
The reporting was filed by Ahmed Elumami and Ayman Sahely with additional reporting by Enas Alashray.
