Libya bans people from Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia and Sudan from entering the country

The Government of Libya has banned people from Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Somalia from entering the North African country through All Border Crossings.

While the reason hasn’t been clearly explained, observers suspect that the usually ‘loaded’ immigrants have been making smuggling possible as they have money to pay to the racketeers and therefore in position to initiate any deals.

It seems Libyan smugglers will do anything required of them as long as they’ve been guaranteed payment.

On the other hand, Libya has exempted Malaysian nationals from entry visa requirements for stays of up to 30 days, under a decree issued by Prime Minister of Western region government, Abdel Hamid Dabaiba.

The Libyan government said the decision comes in application of the principle of reciprocity, following Malaysia’s earlier move to extend its visa-free period for Libyan nationals from 14 to 30 days.

Meanwhile the refugees in Libya have strongly condemned the decision by the authorities in eastern Libya to ban the entry of people from Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Somalia and to order the deportation of those they describe as being in an “irregular situation.”

“This decision is neither isolated nor surprising. It forms part of an escalating campaign targeting migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers across Libya,” they said.

They complained that over recent months, thousands of Black Africans have been rounded up, arbitrarily detained, enslaved, subjected to forced labor, abandoned in the desert, forcibly deported, or returned to detention camps because of their nationality, race, or migration status.

“These policies legitimize racism, normalize collective punishment, and deny people fleeing war and persecution their fundamental right to seek safety,” reads part of their statement.

And the statement continues….

… This latest decision cannot be understood separately from the European Union’s deepening engagement with the authorities in eastern Libya.

While intensifying the externalization of its borders, the EU continues to provide funding, political recognition, equipment, and legitimacy to forces linked to warlord Khalifa Haftar despite years of documented violence and alleged crimes against humanity.

The so-called Rescue Coordination Centre that the European Union seeks to establish in eastern Libya is, in reality, an Abduction Coordination Centre.

The same forces presented as partners in migration management have repeatedly intercepted people at sea, shot at boats, and subjected migrants and refugees to arbitrary detention, torture, rape, enslavement, forced labor, extortion, enforced disappearance, and racial violence.

We reject any attempt to separate European responsibility from that of its Libyan partners.

The violence committed against migrants and refugees is not simply the result of Libyan actions but the foreseeable consequence of policies the European Union has funded, equipped, legitimized, and encouraged for years.

We therefore hold the European Union and its member states equally accountable, alongside their Libyan counterparts and executors, for the violence, torture, enslavement, rape, racial persecution, deaths, enforced disappearances, and other grave human rights violations committed against migrants and refugees in Libya and along the Central Mediterranean route.

We call on the authorities in eastern Libya to immediately rescind this decision, end the ongoing campaigns targeting Black migrants and refugees, and guarantee the rights and dignity of all people regardless of their nationality, race, or migration status. We further call on the European Union to immediately end its political, financial, and operational support for policies and actors that perpetuate these abuses.