UN, aid groups evacuate migrants from Libyan capital’s clashes zone

BY Libyan Express Aug 30, 2018 - 14:51

An armed brigade blocking the road in southern Tripoli (Photo: Social Media)

Hundreds of migrants have been relocated in Libya’s capital from government-run detention centers after getting trapped by clashes between rival groups, the United Nations and aid sources said on Thursday.

The migrants have been brought to a “safer place” from two centers run by the UN-backed government from the Ain Zara area in southeastern Tripoli, aid workers said.

The U.N refugee agency UNHCR “in coordination with other agencies and the Department for Combating Illegal Migration (DCIM) facilitated the transport of all persons in Ain Zara,” it said in a statement.

The migrants were mainly Eritrean, Ethiopian and Somali nationals who were brought to a separate detention center away from fighting.

However, a few people were still awaiting their evacuation at Ain Zara, an official at a separate international organization said, according to Reuters.

Armed clashes between militias – some under the control of the Government of National Accord (GNA) in Libya – vying for power and political gains have been raging on since Monday in Tripoli’s southern districts and after a quick ceasefire, on Wednesday things got heavy.

A ceasefire was reached late on Wednesday and announced by Ceasefire Committee.

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