UNHCR office in Libya closed 
The drama of African refugees

ROME – The effects of the Tripoli authorities’ decision to close the UNHCR office in Libya can only be dramatic for the thousands of Africans who try to escape poverty, civil wars, hunger and the absence of rights. To make the condition of the refugees even more inhuman there are the policy of rejections by the Italian government, the fact that Libya considers their presence on their territory nothing but a crime of clandestinity, which does not respond in any case with the political asylum and, finally, the lack of the only reference point for thousands of people represented, precisely, by the headquarters of the UN High Commissioner. 

For most of the African populations of the broad sub-Saharan area, where about 800 million people live, 13% of the inhabitants of the planet, the choice of escape is the only possibility of survival. Above all, in the eastern area, the geopolitical crises in Ethiopia and Somalia only fuel the flow of refugees, as well as the other side, in West Africa, where 40% of the population has been forced overtime to abandon his homeland. UN sources tell us that there are 6,350,000 internally displaced people in Africa, almost half of the displaced of the whole world. Africa is the continent with the greatest number of people living in extreme conditions, forced to find accommodation, in 80-90% of cases, in the slums. A situation, therefore, destined only to increase the pressure on all the neighboring countries. 

The European Union has said that it is “worried about the negative impact” that this decision will have and highlights how “it is very important that people who need international protection are enabled to receive it”. This was stated by Brussels spokesperson, Catherine Ashton, High Representative for Foreign Policy, responding to reporters during the European Commission’s daily briefing. “Concern” also expressed by Cecilia Malmstroem,

However, despite the concerns expressed, the European Union seems to leave the negotiations with Libya open for the signing of a cooperation agreement. Also, yesterday, in fact, the seventh meeting of EU technicians ended with Libyan colleagues that led to the signing of a “preliminary agreement” on health, economic and political cooperation, management of migration flows, education and energy. Once ratified by governments, the document (National Indicative Program) will become operational until 2013. Ambassador Adrianus Koetsenrujter, who represents the EU in Libya (although he resides in Tunis) has revealed that “the European Union has allocated 60 million for this agreement, which will pay Libya in tranches of 20 million per year “.

Laura Boldrini, a spokeswoman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, said that “we had been there for 19 years and if the UNHCR office is closed a gap will be created, because refugees will not be able to continue their journey, nor return at their home. We, with all our limitations, at least, would guarantee their registration and interviews to grant protection to those people or not “. “This – she continued – could be an opportunity to start a closer collaboration between the High Commission and the authorities of Tripoli, given that so far our presence in Libya had never been formalized. We are therefore confident that can re-launch a dialogue with the Libyan authorities and therefore we can return to do our job “.

(10 June 2010)