Liberty Case

Tunisia and Libya take 276 migrants stranded in desert border region, bring them to shelters

TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — Tunisia and Libya took back 276 sub-Saharan migrants stranded in a desert region along the border between the two countries and brought them to shelters on Thursday.

Tunisia has been blamed for dumping the migrants in the sizzling heat in the no-man’s land near the border post of Ras Jedir. Libya said Wednesday that 27 migrants from sub-Saharan Africa were found dead by Libyan authorities in the western desert near the Tunisian border.

Tunisia’s coast — and specifically the eastern port city of Sfax — has recently taken over from Libya as the main jumping off point for African migrants setting off in fragile boats for Europe across the Mediterranean Sea.

READ MORE : Tunisia moves hundreds of migrants from desolate border area

“We took charge of a group that was sheltered by the Tunisian Red Crescent and the Libyan side did the same so that the migrants were evacuated from the zone,” Tunisian Interior Ministry spokesman Faker Bouzghaya told The Associated Press.

“A consensual solution was … reached to end the problem of the presence of illegal immigrants in the border area between the two countries,” a Libyan statement said.

Tunisia took 126 of the migrants, including 45 women and eight children, and transferred them to two towns in the southeast, an operation coordinated by the Tunisian Red Crescent and the Organization for Migration, the Interior Ministry said.

On the Libyan side, Ahmed Hamza, chairman of the National Human Rights Committee in Libya, a local rights group, said 150 migrants were transferred by Libyan boarder guards to shelters in the capital, Tripoli.

Both countries confirmed the border area had been cleared by late Thursday.

Details of the accord were not made public, beyond the detail on bringing the migrants to shelters and stepping up patrols to ensure the desert area remains migrant-free.

The development follows an agreement Wednesday during a meeting in Tunis of Tunisian and Libyan interior ministers, accompanied by large delegations. A range of security issues was on the table, including how the two North African countries can stem the tide of migrants fleeing conflict and poverty.

Tunisian Interior Minister Kamel Fekih recently told the AP that authorities had retrieved 901 bodies of migrants from the sea from January to July 20.

Human traffickers have profited from instability in Libya since the 2011 toppling of autocrat Moammar Gadhafi, exploiting migrants fleeing conflict and poverty to make the dangerous sea crossings to Europe.

Tunisia has since been widely denounced by human rights groups for dumping some migrants in the desert border area with Libya and also with neighboring Algeria to the north.

Fekih, denied any collective expulsion of migrants while conceding that some small groups had been pushed back into the desert.

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Jeffery reported from Cairo. Associated Press writer Elaine Ganley in Paris contributed to this report.

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King of Jordan, Abdullah, approves a bill to criminalize online speech. Human rights groups call it draconian

AMMAN (AP) — The King of Jordan approved a bill Saturday to punish online speech deemed harmful to national unity, according to the Jordanian state news agency, legislation that has drawn accusations from human rights groups of a crackdown on free expression in a country where censorship is on the rise.

The measure makes certain online posts punishable with months of prison time and fines. These include comments “promoting, instigating, aiding, or inciting immorality,” demonstrating ”contempt for religion” or “undermining national unity.”

It also punishes those who publish names or pictures of police officers online and outlaws certain methods of maintaining online anonymity.

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With the approval of King Abdullah II, the bill now becomes law — set to take effect one month after it is published in the state newspaper, Al-Rai. The newspaper is expected to publish the law tomorrow.

After amending the bill to allow judges to choose between imposing prison time and fines, rather than ordering combined penalties, the Senate passed the bill Tuesday, Jordan’s state-run news agency reported. The measure was passed by Jordan’s lower house of parliament in July.

Lawmakers have argued that the measure, which amends a 2015 cybercrime law, is necessary to punish blackmailers and online attackers.

But opposition lawmakers and human rights groups caution that the new law will expand state control over social media, hamper free access to information and penalize anti-government speech.

A coalition of 14 human rights groups, including Human Rights Watch, has called the law “draconian.” The groups say “vague provisions open the door for Jordan’s executive branch to punish individuals for exercising their right to freedom of expression, forcing the judges to convict citizens in most cases.”

The president of Jordan’s press association also warned the language could infringe upon press freedom and freedom of speech.

The measure is the latest in a series of crackdowns on freedom of expression in Jordan, a key U.S. ally seen as an important source of stability in the volatile Middle East. A report by Human Rights Watch in 2022 found that authorities increasingly target protesters and journalists in a “systematic campaign to quell peaceful opposition and silence critical voices.”

All power in Jordan rests with Abdullah II, who appoints and dismisses governments. Parliament is compliant because of a single-vote electoral system that discourages the formation of strong political parties. Abdullah has repeatedly promised to open the political system, but then pulled back due to concerns of losing control to an Islamist surge.

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Cyprus is sending Syrian migrants back to Lebanon. The UN is concerned but Cypriots say it’s lawful

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — The United Nations refugee agency said Friday it was “extremely concerned” over the return of more than 100 Syrian nationals from Cyprus to Lebanon without being screened to determine whether they need legal protection and who may be deported back to their war-wracked homeland.

The UNHCR office in Cyprus said deportations and transfers between states “without legal and procedural safeguards for persons who may be in need of international protection” are against international and European law.

Such transfers could result in people sent back to a country where “they may face the risk of persecution, torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and other irreparable harm,” the agency told the Associated Press.

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The 109 migrants had all reached Cyprus aboard three separate boats between Jul. 29-Aug. 2 before being returned by boat under Cyprus police escort.

The Cyprus government said such returns are being lawfully carried out in line with a bilateral agreement the island nation and neighboring Lebanon signed in 2004.

According to senior Interior Ministry official Loizos Hadjivasiliou, the agreement obligates Lebanon to prevent and stop illegal border crossings and illegal migration of individuals who depart from Lebanon.

Hadjivasiliou told the Associated Press these individuals are returned to Lebanon, which is deemed safe and where they enjoy benefits afforded to the hundreds of thousands of refugees in the country.

“Under these circumstances, we believe that they don’t face any danger and their choice to set sail toward a European Union member country is being made for clearly economic reasons.”

Lebanon hosts some 805,000 UN-registered Syrian refugees, but officials estimate the actual number is far higher, ranging between 1.5 and 2 million. An increasing number of would-be migrants – both refugees and Lebanese – have attempted to leave Lebanon by sea since the country fell into a crippling economic crisis over the past four years. About 90% of Syrian refugees in Lebanon live below the extreme poverty line, according to UNHCR.

Hadjivasiliou said in line with the bilateral agreement, Cypriot authorities don’t process migrants’ asylum claims because their arrival is “clearly a matter of illegal trespass.”

“The Cyprus Republic is in no way implicated in pushbacks and never refuses assistance in case of a search and rescue operation to first and foremost protect human lives,” Hadjivasiliou said.

Cypriot Interior Minister Constantinos Ioannou traveled to Lebanon last month for talks with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Azmi Mikati and other top officials to ensure that the bilateral agreement remains in effect and to bolster cooperation on stemming migrant arrivals.

Lisa Abou Khaled, a spokesperson for the UNHCR office in Lebanon, told the Associated Press that most all 109 migrants that were returned from Cyprus were deported to Syria after being investigated by the Lebanese army.

Khaled said the UNHCR maintains that anyone who wishes to re-enter Lebanon and who may fear returning to their country of origin “should be readmitted so that their protection needs can be properly addressed.”

Lebanon has stepped up Syrian refugee deportations in April, as anti-refugee sentiment in the crisis-hit country intensifies.

Lebanese authorities have pointed to a 2019 regulation allowing unauthorized refugees who entered the country after April of that year to be deported, but human rights groups argue that the forcible return of refugees to a country where they might face persecution or torture violates international law.

Cyprus has in recent years sought EU help to cope with a large influx of migrants including from sub-Saharan Africa that have taxed the small country’s limited resources.

The EU is co-financing the construction of a new reception center for migrants, with capacity for 1,000 people, while their asylum claims are being processed or initially turned down.

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