How Gaza displacement could deepen Egypt’s already unbearable refugee burden

Special How Gaza displacement could deepen Egypt’s already unbearable refugee burden
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Demonstrators gather outside the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip on January 31, 2025 to protest against a plan floated by US President Donald Trump to move Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to Egypt and Jordan. (AFP)
Special How Gaza displacement could deepen Egypt’s already unbearable refugee burden
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People walk past trucks loaded with aid waiting to cross into Gaza from the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing on January 19, 2025. (AFP)
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Updated 09 February 2025
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How Gaza displacement could deepen Egypt’s already unbearable refugee burden

How Gaza displacement could deepen Egypt’s already unbearable refugee burden
  • Host to refugees from Sudan, Syria, and elsewhere, Egypt faces new challenges as Trump proposes relocating Gazans
  • With inflation at 24.1 percent in December, experts warn more refugees would stretch Egypt’s economy and security

LONDON: Already host to almost 10 million migrants and refugees, Egypt now faces pressure to shelter hundreds of thousands of Gazans — a move Cairo deems unfair to the Palestinians and a potential threat to its economy and security.

US President Donald Trump has suggested that some 1.5 million people from the Palestinian enclave could be relocated to Egypt and Jordan — a plan that has met with opposition from both countries’ leaderships.

 

 

“Egypt views this proposal as an unacceptable liquidation of the Palestinian cause — something that neither Egyptians, Palestinians, nor other influential regional states would accept,” Hani Nasira, an Egyptian author and academic, told Arab News.

“It undermines the two-state solution and the peace agreements with Israel, which many regional countries have tied their engagement to.”

Beyond what this might mean for the Palestinians, Nasira also cited economic concerns for Egypt, especially if Gazans are not permitted to return. “Egypt hosts more than 9 million refugees and migrants who pose an economic burden and do not live in camps,” he said.

“Rather than treating displaced people as refugees or housing them in camps, Egypt has integrated them into society and considers them ‘guests,’ as President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi has repeatedly stated.”




Sudanese brick makers work in an agricultural field in the capital Khartoum's district of Jureif Gharb on November 11, 2019. Egypt is home to more than 9 million foreign nationals who have fled conflict from their countries, and Egypt has integrated mnost of them into society and considers them ‘guests.’  (AFP)

Indeed, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, has praised Egypt for its policy of placing displaced foreign nationals in host communities, “reflecting the government’s commitment to the Global Compact on Refugees’ principle of finding alternatives to camps.”

Egypt is a signatory to key international treaties defining refugee rights and state obligations, including the 1951 Refugee Convention, its 1967 Protocol, and the 1969 Organization of African Unity Convention.

While official statistics show that Egypt hosts more than 9 million refugees and asylum-seekers, only 822,701 of them were registered with the UNHCR as of October. Access to many services typically requires being registered with the UNHCR or one of its partners.

REFUGEES & MIGRANTS IN EGYPT

• 4 million+ Sudanese

• 1.5 million+ Syrians

• 1million+ Yemenis

• 1 million+ Libyans

(Source: IOM)

According to UN figures, Egypt’s registered refugees originate from 59 nations, including Sudan, Syria, South Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Yemen, Somalia, and Iraq. As of October 2023, the Sudanese nationality was the largest group, followed by Syrians.

Sudan, which borders Egypt to the south, has been trapped in a state of conflict between rival military factions since April 2023, leading to one of the world’s worst humanitarian catastrophes, displacing some 12 million people, both internally and externally.




In this photo taken on May 13, 2023, Sudanese fleeing war-torn Sudan are seen arriving at Qastal land port crossing between Egypt and Sudan. (AFP)

Fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces has devastated the capital Khartoum and other cities, shattering the nation’s health system and compounding outbreaks of once preventable diseases.

Domestic agriculture and supply chains have collapsed, leading to outbreaks of famine across the country. In Darfur and other areas, accounts of sexual violence and even genocide have emerged. Access issues and underfunding have hampered the humanitarian response.

Syria, meanwhile, has only recently emerged from more than a decade of civil war, which has displaced millions of refugees throughout the region and across the globe. Instability persists even after the toppling of the Bashar Assad regime, and swathes of the country remain in ruins.




This photo taken on January 4, 2018, shows Syrian refugees working at a restaurant in Egypt's second city of Alexandria. Egypt welcomed tens of thousands of people displaced since the Syrian civil war broke out in 2011. (AFP/File)

South Sudan and nations on the Horn of Africa have experienced some of the most extreme and least reported conflicts of recent years, including the Tigray war in Ethiopia, not to mention climate disasters including devastating floods and crippling drought.

Recent and ongoing conflicts in Libya, Yemen, and Iraq have likewise sent millions in search of safety and a route out of poverty in Egypt — already the Arab world’s most populous country — which has itself experienced instability and hardship.

Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said last year that Egypt hosted 40 percent of those fleeing Sudan, 1.5 million Syrian refugees since 2012, and expected to receive more Palestinians displaced from Gaza.

Since Israel mounted its military campaign in the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7, 2023, in retaliation for the deadly Hamas-led attack on southern Israel, nearly all of the enclave’s 2.2 million residents have been displaced from their homes at least once.




People fleeing from the Gaza Strip wait in the Egyptian part of the Rafah border crossing with the Palestinian enclave, on December 3, 2023, amid continuing battles between Israel and the militant group Hamas. (AFP)

As many as 100,000 Gazans managed to cross into Egypt before Israel captured the Rafah border crossing in May, according to Palestine’s Ambassador in Cairo Diab Al-Louh. Many lacked the documents needed to enroll children in school, open businesses, travel, or access health services.

Trump first floated the idea of relocating Gazans en masse on Jan. 25 and reiterated it the next day aboard Air Force One, saying he wanted the Palestinian enclave “just cleaned out” to start afresh after a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas was announced in mid-January.

On Feb. 4, he went even further, announcing plans for a US “takeover” of the Gaza Strip during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington D.C.




Demonstrators gather outside the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip on January 31, 2025 to protest against a plan floated by US President Donald Trump to move Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to Egypt and Jordan. (AFP)

Trump said he wanted the US to take a “long-term ownership position” and turn the Eastern Mediterranean territory into the “Riviera of the Middle East.” Palestinians could be resettled away from Gaza, “in areas where the leaders currently say no,” he said.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty had already expressed concerns about the strain Egypt’s refugee burden is placing on the national budget and host communities, citing insufficient international support amid the growing number of displaced people.

During a Jan. 27 meeting with heads of three UN agencies in Geneva, Abdelatty reiterated Egypt’s call for a fairer and more sustainable distribution of responsibility, urging the UN International Organization for Migration to help manage migrant flows and strengthen Egypt’s capacity to host those it already had.

On Jan. 28, Abdelatty told the Universal Periodic Review of Human Rights in Geneva that his country has shouldered a significant responsibility on behalf of the international community by hosting 10.7 million foreign nationals, including refugees and irregular migrants.

However, he said Egypt’s “capacity to accommodate and continue our efforts is at risk, especially given the insufficient international support relative to the pressures we are facing.”




Delegates pose for a group picture during a humanitarian conference for Gaza in Cairo on December 2, 2024, amid the continuing war between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)

In April last year, Egypt’s Prime Minister Madbouly said hosting some 9 million refugees was costing his country approximately $10 billion per year, at a time when Egypt is grappling with its own economic crisis, despite receiving financial assistance from the EU, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and others to help stave off collapse.

Egypt’s revenues from the Suez Canal dropped by more than 60 percent in 2024, amounting to a $7 billion loss compared to the previous year, President El-Sisi said in a December statement. The loss was primarily driven by regional tensions, including attacks on ships in the Red Sea by the Iran-backed Houthi militia in Yemen.

Egypt’s economy is also struggling with a high inflation rate, which stood at 24.1 percent in December, according to Trading Economics.




A young boy delivers freshly-baked bread in the al-Darb al-Ahmar district in the old quarters of Cairo on May 28, 2024. 

Economic repercussions are not the sole concern surrounding plans to relocate Gazans to Egypt. Officials believe the move may also threaten the security of the country and the wider region.

El-Sisi told a press conference on Jan. 29 that the transfer of Palestinians “can never be tolerated or allowed because of its impact on Egyptian national security.”

Egyptian academic Nasira said that implementing Trump’s proposal “could shift the conflict onto Egyptian soil and across the Middle East.”




Tanks stand on guard along the Egyptian side near the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip on January 19, 2025. Egyptians fear that Trump’s proposal to relocate Gazans to Egypt “could shift the conflict onto Egyptian soil and across the Middle East.” (AFP)

Two days before El-Sisi’s statement, Parliament Speaker Hanafy El-Gebaly warned that relocating Gaza’s residents “may impede efforts to maintain the current truce and reach a permanent ceasefire” and risk “transferring the conflict to other territories, with disastrous repercussions for the entire region.”

Nasira said Cairo considers the relocation a threat to its national security, “as it could destabilize the Suez Canal the Sinai Peninsula, which was contested in multiple wars, the most recent in October 1973,” and “fuel further extremism in Egypt and the broader region.”

Echoing Cairo’s concerns, several influential Arab nations, including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar, also warned that such plans “threaten the region’s stability, risk expanding the conflict, and undermine prospects for peace and coexistence among its peoples.”

Cairo fears that relocating Palestinians from Gaza — along with Hamas and other militant groups — could unravel the Camp David Accords, brokered in 1978 by US President Jimmy Carter between Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin.




Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat (R) is seen with his supporters in Beirut during the early days of the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon. (AFP)

Palestinian militant groups could ignite future wars on Egyptian territory — much like in 1970s Lebanon, when Yasser Arafat’s Palestine Liberation Organization turned the southern part of the country into a launchpad for attacks on Israel.

Shortly after the Gaza war began, El-Sisi warned a mass exodus of Palestinians into Egypt’s Sinai could wreck the 1978 peace deal, turning the region into “a base for attacks on Israel,” prompting Israel to “strike Egyptian territory.”

He said: “The peace which we have achieved would vanish from our hands. All for the sake of the idea of eliminating the Palestinian cause.”
 

 


Gaza’s Health Ministry says Israel has struck the largest hospital in the territory’s south

Gaza’s Health Ministry says Israel has struck the largest hospital in the territory’s south
Updated 12 sec ago
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Gaza’s Health Ministry says Israel has struck the largest hospital in the territory’s south

Gaza’s Health Ministry says Israel has struck the largest hospital in the territory’s south
  • Like other medical facilities around Gaza, Nasser Hospital has been damaged by Israeli raids and strikes throughout the war

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip: Israel’s military struck the largest hospital in southern Gaza on Sunday night, killing one person, wounding others and causing a large fire, the territory’s Health Ministry said.
The strike hit the surgical building of Nasser Hospital in the city of Khan Younis, the ministry said, days after the facility was overwhelmed with dead and wounded when Israel resumed the war in Gaza last week with a surprise wave of airstrikes.
Israel’s military confirmed the strike on the hospital, saying it hit a Hamas militant operating there. Israel blames civilian deaths on Hamas because it operates in densely populated areas.
Like other medical facilities around Gaza, Nasser Hospital has been damaged by Israeli raids and strikes throughout the war.
More than 50,000 Palestinians have now been killed in the war, the Health Ministry said earlier Sunday.
The military claimed to have “eliminated” dozens of militants since Israel ended a ceasefire Tuesday with strikes that killed hundreds of people on one of the deadliest days in the 17-month war.
Israel’s unrest over Gaza and political issues grew Sunday, with anger at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as his government voted to express no confidence in the attorney general, seen by many as a check on the power of his coalition.
“I’m worried for the future of this country. And I think it has to stop. We have to change direction,” said Avital Halperin, one of hundreds of protesters outside Netanyahu’s office. Police said three were arrested.
‘Displacement under fire’
Israel’s military ordered thousands of Palestinians to leave the heavily destroyed Tel Al-Sultan neighborhood in the southern city of Rafah. They walked to Muwasi, a sprawling area of squalid tent camps. The war has forced most of Gaza’s population of over 2 million to flee within the territory, often multiple times.
“It’s displacement under fire,” said Mustafa Gaber, a journalist who left with his family. He said tank and drone fire echoed nearby.
“The shells are falling among us and the bullets are (flying) above us,” said Amal Nassar, also displaced. “The elderly have been thrown into the streets. An old woman was telling her son, ‘Go and leave me to die.’ Where will we go?”
“Enough is enough. We are exhausted,” said a fleeing Ayda Abu Shaer, as smoke rose in the distance.
The Palestinian Red Crescent emergency service said it lost contact with a 10-member team responding to the strikes in Rafah. Spokesperson Nebal Farsakh said some were wounded.
Israel’s military said it had fired on advancing “suspicious vehicles” and later discovered some were ambulances and fire trucks.
In Gaza City, an explosion hit next to a tent camp where people had been told to evacuate. “My husband is blind and started running barefoot, and my children were running,” said witness Nidaa Hassuna.
Strikes kill Hamas leader
Hamas said Salah Bardawil, a well-known member of its political bureau, was killed in a strike in Muwasi that also killed his wife. Israel’s military confirmed it.
Hospitals in southern Gaza said they received a further 24 bodies from strikes overnight, including several women and children.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said 50,021 Palestinians have been killed in the war, including 673 people since Israel’s bombardment on Tuesday shattered the ceasefire.
Dr. Munir Al-Boursh, the ministry’s general director, said the dead include 15,613 children, with 872 of them under 1 year old.
The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count but says women and children make up over half the dead. Israel says it has killed around 20,000 fighters, without providing evidence.
Ceasefire in tatters
The ceasefire that took hold in January paused more than a year of fighting ignited by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack into Israel, in which militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 hostage. Most captives have been released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.
In the latest ceasefire’s first phase, 25 Israeli hostages and the bodies of eight others were released in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. Israeli forces allowed hundreds of thousands of people to return home. There was a surge in humanitarian aid until Israel cut off all supplies to Gaza earlier this month to pressure Hamas to change the ceasefire agreement.
The sides were supposed to begin negotiations in early February on the ceasefire’s next phase, in which Hamas was to release the remaining 59 hostages — 35 of them believed to be dead — in exchange for more Palestinian prisoners, a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal. Those talks never began.
New settlements in the West Bank
Israel’s Cabinet passed a measure creating 13 new settlements in the occupied West Bank by rezoning existing ones, according to Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s far-right finance minister, who is in charge of settlement construction.
This brings the number of settlements, considered illegal by the majority of the international community, to 140, said anti-settlement watchdog group Peace Now. They will receive independent budgets from Israel and can elect their own local governments, the group said.


Emir of Kuwait urges nation to adhere to national unity, democratic approach

Emir of Kuwait urges nation to adhere to national unity, democratic approach
Updated 20 min 53 sec ago
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Emir of Kuwait urges nation to adhere to national unity, democratic approach

Emir of Kuwait urges nation to adhere to national unity, democratic approach
  • Sheikh Meshal said 'national identity is at the top of our priorities'
  • He commended the citizens of Kuwait for their loyal response to recent government reform decisions

LONDON: Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, the Emir of Kuwait, addressed the nation in a televised speech, urging Kuwaiti citizens to embrace the democratic approach and adhere to constitutional references, the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) reported.

His speech to the Kuwaitis was on Sunday evening during the last 10 days of Ramadan.

He emphasized that "national identity is at the top of our priorities. It belongs to every genuine Kuwaiti keen on his country's progress and the elevation of its status."

He commended the citizens of Kuwait for their loyal response to recent government reform decisions, which included the suspension of some constitutional articles.

Sheikh Meshal said that Kuwait was managing national unity and citizenship issues in accordance with the law while avoiding political bidding and external pressures.

"I affirm commitment to reforming, strengthening stability, and upholding the country's supreme interests, continuing to combat corruption and confronting anyone who attempts to tamper with the nation's security and stability," he said.

He warned that "advocates of division and the instigators of sedition are trying to confuse matters, spread rumors, and distort statements, to divide the ranks and cause discontent."

He called Kuwaitis to adhere to national unity and "work with a spirit of responsibility to preserve the security and stability of the homeland," KUNA reported.

He said he was closely monitoring the work of state agencies, ensuring accountability and urging the government to speed up development projects in health, education, and housing.

"I am certain, with a reassured soul, an optimistic spirit and great confidence in the authentic Kuwaiti people's ability to overcome challenges," he said.

On an international level, Sheikh Meshal emphasized that Kuwait will maintain its diplomatic approach with friendly nations in favor of justice.

He said that the Palestinian cause will remain a top priority in Kuwait's foreign policy, as the country supports the Palestinian people in achieving all their legitimate rights.


Macron ‘only point of reference’ for mending ties with Algeria

Macron ‘only point of reference’ for mending ties with Algeria
Updated 23 March 2025
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Macron ‘only point of reference’ for mending ties with Algeria

Macron ‘only point of reference’ for mending ties with Algeria
  • The Algerian leader said he had “complete confidence” in his Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf, whose ministry has described Algiers as a victim of a “vengeful and hateful French far right”

ALGIERS: Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has said that French counterpart Emmanuel Macron is the “only point of reference” for mending frayed ties with its former colonial ruler.
Relations between Paris and Algiers have been strained over immigration and since Macron recognized Moroccan sovereignty of the disputed territory of Western Sahara in July last year.
“We will keep President Macron as our sole point of reference,” Tebboune said in an interview broadcast on Algerian television.
“He remains the French president, and all problems must be resolved with him or with the person he delegates.”
The Algerian leader said he had “complete confidence” in his Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf, whose ministry has described Algiers as a victim of a “vengeful and hateful French far right.”
Tensions worsened after Algiers refused to accept the return of undocumented Algerian migrants from France.
One of them, a 37-year-old man went on a stabbing rampage in the eastern city of Mulhouse in February, killing one person and wounding several others.
French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau threatened a response if Algeria continues to refuse to admit its expelled nationals.
He has led the verbal attacks on Algeria in the media, fueling tensions between the countries.
Relations were also damaged after the arrest of Franco-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal in November.
Macron voiced fears about the health of the author held in Algeria on national security charges.
Macron said Sansal — known for his strong support of free speech — was being held in “arbitrary detention” and that resolving the matter would help restore confidence in diplomatic ties.

 


Hostage families, anti-government protesters rally in Tel Aviv

Hostage families, anti-government protesters rally in Tel Aviv
Updated 23 March 2025
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Hostage families, anti-government protesters rally in Tel Aviv

Hostage families, anti-government protesters rally in Tel Aviv
  • At the same time, families and supporters of the 59 hostages still held in Gaza have vented their anger at what many have seen as the government’s abandonment of their loved ones

TEL AVIV: Israeli protesters took to the streets for a sixth day on Sunday amid reports Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Cabinet  passed a vote of no confidence  in the attorney general, in its latest move against officials deemed hostile to the government.
However, any dismissal could be months away.
Tens of thousands of Israelis have joined demonstrations in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv over the past week, as fears for Israeli hostages after a resumption of the bombing campaign in Gaza and anger at moves to sack the head of the domestic intelligence agency have brought different protest groups together.
The removal of Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, approved by Cabinet last week, was set to be followed by a no-confidence motion against attorney general Gali Baharav-Miara, who has frequently clashed with the current government.
Israeli media reported last week that the Cabinet would hold a no-confidence motion against Baharav-Miara, a former district attorney appointed under previous Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.
The moves against the two officials have drawn accusations from protesters and the opposition that Netanyahu’s right-wing government is undermining key state institutions.
At the same time, families and supporters of the 59 hostages still held in Gaza have vented their anger at what many have seen as the government’s abandonment of their loved ones.
“We are here to make it clear that Israel is a democracy and will remain a democracy,” said 46-year-old Uri Ash, who was taking part in a protest in Tel Aviv.
“We will overtake this government because it is ruining Israel,” he said.
Although the protest groups have different priorities, they have built on mass demonstrations before the Gaza war that were unleashed by the right-wing government’s moves to curb the power of the Supreme Court.
Netanyahu said that, at the time, the overhaul was needed to rein in judicial overreach that was intruding on the authority of parliament, but protesters said it was an attempt to weaken one of the pillars of Israeli democracy.
Earlier this month, Justice Minister Yariv Levin initiated moves to dismiss Baharav-Miara, accusing her of politicizing her office and obstructing the government.
In practice, any step to remove the attorney general will likely face administrative hurdles and an appeals process that could delay it for months.
But the reports, which the prime minister’s office declined to confirm, have added fuel to the protests, echoing the same accusations made over Bar’s dismissal.
Cabinet approved Bar’s dismissal despite objections from Baharav-Miara, but a temporary injunction from the Supreme Court has held up the move.
Late on Saturday, Netanyahu issued a video statement defending the dismissal of Bar and rejecting accusations that the sacking was aimed at thwarting a Shin Bet investigation into allegations of financial ties between Qatar and aides in the prime minister’s office.
Instead, he said, the Shin Bet probe into the affair was launched as a means of delaying Bar’s expected resignation over intelligence failures that allowed the devastating attack on Israel on Oct 7, 2023, to take place.

 


UN raises alarm over wave of ‘arbitrary’ arrests in Libya

UN raises alarm over wave of ‘arbitrary’ arrests in Libya
Updated 23 March 2025
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UN raises alarm over wave of ‘arbitrary’ arrests in Libya

UN raises alarm over wave of ‘arbitrary’ arrests in Libya
  • UNSMIL expressed concern about the use of filmed confessions, “where individuals are detained and coerced into ‘confessing’ to alleged crimes with videos published online.”

TRIPLI: The UN Support Mission in Libya expressed concern over what it said were arbitrary arrests, including of lawyers and members of the judiciary, calling for their immediate release.
“UNSMIL is alarmed by the wave of arbitrary arrest and detentions across Libya by law enforcement and security actors,” it said in a statement.
“These actors are using their powers of arrest and detention to target individuals for their alleged political affiliations, to silence perceived dissent, and to undermine judicial independence.”
Libya has struggled to recover from the chaos that followed the 2011 uprising.
It remains split between a UN-recognized government in Tripoli and a rival authority in the east.
UNSMIL also expressed concern about the use of filmed confessions, “where individuals are detained and coerced into ‘confessing’ to alleged crimes with videos published online.”
It said the practice was used to “intimidate and humiliate” the individuals and must be deemed inadmissible.
Among those arrested was Judge Ali Al-Sharif, who was subjected to violence during his arrest in Tripoli on March 10, as well as lawyer Mounir Al-Orfi, detained in Benghazi since March 12.
UNSMIL said that two military prosecutors, Mansour Daoub and Mohammed Al-Mabrouk Al-Kar, have also been held in Tripoli since 2022.
The situation “undermines the environment necessary for Libya’s democratic transition and weakens Libyans’ trust in law enforcement and security entities that must work to protect and promote the rights of all people in Libya, not undermine them,” UNSMIL said.