Immigration: Father Zerai, little has changed in new Libya
Horror continues in Sinai, situation also critical in Yemen
15 May, 16:30
(ANSAmed) - ROME, MAY 15 - The ''new'' Libya ''does not appear too different
from the previous version under the Gaddafi regime, according to reports
arriving from Benghazi and Kufra''.
So said Father Mussie Zerai, head of the Habeshia Agency for cooperation and
development, who made the comments in a statement in which he also
underlined problems in Yemen, Djibouti, Tunisia and the Egyptian Sinai.
The religious leader, who lives in Rome, says that ''hundreds of refugees
are being held in slave conditions in Kufra'', where he says ''they are
forced to work by armed men, who forced them to handle heavy weapons, clean
tanks, without food and water, beating them constantly''. Those who are able
to pay up to 800 dollars are accompanied ''by armed men as far as Tripoli,
so trafficking continues to flourish as it did under Gaddafi''.
Father Zerai also spoke of refugees in detention centres in Benghazi, ''who
are complaining of mistreatment'' and a lack of food, drinking water and
medical treatment. In Yemen, Father Zerai condemned the detention in prison
of around 240 Eritrean refugees ''in inhumane conditions'', saying that they
are thought to have contracted a contagious illness.
Acts of intolerance have also been carried out against Christians in the
Shousha refugee camp in Tunisia, close to the Libyan border, for which
Father Zerai has asked the UNHCR to intervene.
As far as the Sinai is concerned, the Habeshia agency continues to report
''human trafficking'' and the smuggling of organs from refugees hoping to
reach Israel. In the area, there are said to be ''around 2,000 prisoners in
the hands of traffickers'' responsible for atrocities, which have been
carried out without the Egyptian government ''making the slightest effort to
tackle them''. (ANSAmed).
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Received on Tue May 15 2012 - 13:48:34 EDT
