Bangladeshi killed in Libya airstrike

At least one Bangladeshi was killed and two others were injured in an airstrike on a migrant detention centre at Tajoura in the Libyan capital Tripoli on Tuesday.

The UN says the airstrike left at least 53 migrants dead and 130 others wounded.

The Bangladeshi killed in the airstrike was identified as Shahjalal of Madaripur. Identities of the injured could not be known yet, said a foreign ministry official.

He said they have information that 13 Bangladeshis were among others in the migrant detention centre, said Tarikul Islam, director general of the ministry’s Africa wing.

“Our labour counsellor in Libya is working to get the details of the Bangladeshis affected or missing,” he told The Daily Star by phone yesterday.

According to IOM, there were around 600 migrants and refugees, including women and children, in the detention centre.

“The airstrike that left scores dead, also left dozens injured. For that reason, we expect the final death toll to include many more victims,” it said in a statement.

Including those victims at Tajoura, some 3,300 migrants and refugees remain arbitrarily detained in and around Tripoli in conditions that can only be described as inhumane. Moreover, migrants and refugees face increasing risks as clashes intensify nearby, IOM said. 

The Tripoli-based government, which is recognised by the UN, blamed the attack on forces associated with General Khalifa Haftar, whose Libyan National Army has been waging an offensive against rival militias in the capital of the war-torn North African country since April, according to an AP report.

According to IOM, the ongoing conflict in the Libyan capital has forced nearly 100,000 Libyans to flee their homes.

“We are doing all we can to help. IOM and UNHCR have dispatched medical teams, while a wider UN inter-agency team awaits clearance to visit the area. We remind all parties to this conflict that civilians must not be targets and must be protected under both International Refugee Law and International Human Rights Law.”

The UNHCR with partners that include IOM has relocated more than 1,500 refugees from detention centres near combat to safer areas.

Separately, in 2019, IOM’s Voluntary Humanitarian Return operations have assisted in the departure of more than 5,000 vulnerable individuals, including Bangladeshis, returning to their countries in Asia and Africa.

“We urgently call on the international community to provide humanitarian corridors for migrants and refugees to be evacuated out of Libya,” said IOM and UNHCR in a joint statement.

According to officials of Bangladesh Embassy in Libya, there are some 20,000 Bangladeshis in Libya. Many have tried to cross the Mediterranean Sea to reach Europe.

In May, some 40 Bangladeshis were feared dead in the sea as their Europe-bound boat capsized.

On June 18, 64 Bangladeshis and some other nationals were rescued from the sea some 25km off the Tunisian coast of Zargis. At least 52 of them have been repatriated so far.

Some 500 Bangladeshis, who were either rescued from the Europe-bound ships in the sea or were stranded in Libya due to civil war, had been repatriated from the country since 2018, said ASM Ashraful Islam, labour counsellor of Bangladesh Embassy in Libya.