Mizdah massacre | |
---|---|
Location | Mizdah, Libya |
Date | May 27, 2020 |
Attack type | Massacre |
Weapons | Guns |
Deaths | 30 (26 Bangladeshi and 4 African) |
Injured | 1 |
Perpetrators | Human Traffickers |
Mizdah massacre refers to the murder of 30 migrants in Mizdah in Southwest Libya. 11 migrants were also injured in the massacre by human traffickers. [1] 26 of the migrants were from Bangladesh and four from various African countries. [2] [3]
Libya has become a transit country for migrants seeking to enter Europe. 654 Bangladeshis illegally entered Europe through Libya from January to April 2020, according European Frontex agency. Migrants pay 10,000 euros to smugglers in Libya to reach Europe. [4] On 27 May 2020, 30 migrants were shot and killed by human traffickers in Mizdah. 26 of the migrants were from Bangladesh and four from African countries. [5] 36 Bangladeshi migrants were held hostage in the town of Mizdah for ransom by the human traffickers. [6] The 26 Bangladeshis killed in the massacre were buried in Mizdah. The injured migrants received treatment at a hospital in Tripoli. According to the Government of National Accord, the migrants were killed by relatives of a human trafficker, who had been killed during an altercation with migrants after the trafficker demanded more money. [7]
One Bangladeshi migrant, who survived the massacre, reported paying brokers in Bangladesh. The broker accompanied the migrant to Nepal, from there to Dubai, then from Dubai to Egypt, and then handed them over to Libyan traffickers at the Egypt-Libya border. The migrants were held in Mizdah and tortured for ransom from their family back in Bangladesh. The traffickers demanded 12,000 dollars from the family of migrants. [8]
The European Union has condemned the killing and reiterated its commitment towards the fight against human traffickers. [9] Bangladesh has called for a quick investigation of the massacre. [10]
Medecins Sans Frontieres called for the evacuation of all migrants from Libya, describing the country as unsafe. [11]
Saif al-Islam Muammar al-Gaddafi is a Libyan political figure. He is the second son of the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and his second wife Safia Farkash. He was a part of his father's inner circle, performing public relations and diplomatic roles on his behalf. He publicly turned down his father's offer of the country's second highest post and held no official government position. According to United States Department of State officials in Tripoli, during his father's reign, he was the second most widely recognized person in Libya, being at times the de facto prime minister, and was mentioned as a possible successor, though he rejected this. An arrest warrant was issued for him on 27 June 2011 by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for charges of crimes against humanity against the Libyan people, for killing and persecuting civilians, under Articles 7(1)(a) and 7(1)(h) of the Rome statute. He denied the charges.
Human rights in Libya is the record of human rights upheld and violated in various stages of Libya's history. The Kingdom of Libya, from 1951 to 1969, was heavily influenced by the British and Y.R.K companies. Under the King, Libya had a constitution. The kingdom, however, was marked by a feudal regime. Due to the previous colonial regime, Libya had a low literacy rate of 10%, a low life expectancy of 57 years, with many people living in shanties and tents. Illiteracy and homelessness were chronic problems during this era, when iron shacks dotted many urban centres in the country.
Slavery in Libya has a long history and a lasting impact on the Libyan culture. It is closely connected with the wider context of slavery in North African and trans-Saharan slave trade.
Libya is a transit and destination country for men and women from sub-Saharan Africa and Asia trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and commercial sexual exploitation. While most foreigners in Libya are economic migrants, in some cases large smuggling debts of $500–$2,000 and illegal status leave them vulnerable to various forms of coercion, resulting in cases of forced prostitution and forced labor.
Abu Salim prison is a maximum security prison in Tripoli, Libya. The prison was notorious during the rule of Muammar Gaddafi for alleged mistreatment and human rights abuses, including a massacre in 1996 in which Human Rights Watch estimated that 1,270 prisoners were killed.
Abdullah Senussi is a Libyan national who was the intelligence chief and brother-in-law of former Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. He was married to Gaddafi's sister-in-law.
Field Marshal Khalifa Belqasim Omar Haftar is a Libyan politician, military officer, and the commander of the Tobruk-based Libyan National Army (LNA). On 2 March 2015, he was appointed commander of the Armed forces loyal to the elected legislative body, the Libyan House of Representatives.
Libya–Malaysia relations refers to bilateral foreign relations between Libya and Malaysia. Libya has an embassy in Kuala Lumpur, and Malaysia has an embassy in Tripoli.
The Libyan civil war (2014–2020), also more commonly known as the Second Libyan Civil War, was a multilateral civil war which was fought in Libya between a number of armed groups, but mainly the House of Representatives (HoR) and the Government of National Accord (GNA), for six years from 2014 to 2020.
This is a detailed timeline of the Libyan civil war (2014–2020) which lasted from 2014 to 2020.
State of Libya Al Radaa For Countering Terrorism & Organized Crime. is a Madkhali radical Islamist special operations military police unit formed in Tripoli Libya for the purpose of tackling crime. It is also known as RADA Special Deterrence Forces, or commonly, "RADA". Its focus is high-profile kidnappings, murders, drug and alcohol poisoning related deaths, illegal migrant smuggling, weapons smuggling, explosives smuggling, terrorist attacks and plots. A lack of political power and police presence in Tripoli provoked the founding of this special unit.
Bangladesh–Libya relations refer to the bilateral relations between Bangladesh and Libya. Bangladesh has an embassy in Tripoli. Libya has an embassy in Dhaka. Both countries are members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.
The Battle of Derna was a military campaign by the Libyan National Army to recapture the city of Derna from the Shura Council of Mujahideen in Derna, which lasted from 7 May 2018 until 12 February 2019. The majority of military operations concluded by 28 June 2018, with the Libyan National Army declaring control of the entire city on that day, despite continued clashes in the old city. During the early stages of the battle, the Shura Council was dissolved and replaced with the Derna Protection Force, which continued operations after the LNA declared victory in June 2018, before surrendering themselves at the end of the battle.
The 2018 National Oil Corporation attack was a terrorist attack that occurred on 10 September 2018, in which at least six gunmen from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in Libya carried out an attack, taking several hostages and killing at least 2 staff members from the National Oil Corporation. During the attack, a shootout occurred with security forces loyal to the Tripoli-based government. An al-Jazeera journalist reported that the gunmen attacked the main gate of the facility, and the attack caused a wave of panic in Tripoli.
The Western Libya campaign was a military campaign initiated on 4 April 2019 by the Operation Flood of Dignity of the Libyan National Army, which represents the Libyan House of Representatives, to capture the western region of Libya and eventually the capital Tripoli held by the United Nations Security Council-recognised Government of National Accord. The Government of National Accord regained control over all of Tripoli in June 2020 and the LNA forces withdrew from the capital, after fourteen months of fighting.
Detention centres in Libya are criminal enterprises run by gangs of human traffickers and kidnappers for profit. Lawlessness in Libya has resulted in circumstances where criminals gangs abduct and detain people who are migrating to or through Libya. 5,000 migrants are held in dozens of camps that are mostly located around Bani Walid. Detainees often suffer torture and may face execution if their family do not pay ransoms to the gangs.
Events in Libya in 2024.
Operation Volcano of Anger, alternatively known as Operation Volcano of Rage, was a military resistance campaign launched by the Government of National Accord in Libya to counter the advances of the Libyan National Army led by General Khalifa Haftar. The conflict, which began in April 2019, had witnessed intense fighting around the capital city, Tripoli, and other strategic locations in the country.
The Battle of Gharyan, which unfolded from April 2019 to June 2019, was a significant conflict in the ongoing struggle for control in Libya. The opposing forces were the Libyan National Army (LNA), led by General Khalifa Haftar, and the Government of National Accord (GNA), headed by Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj.