Wednesday, July 3, 2019

A Nepali killed in Libya detention centre bombing

At least 44 people – including a Nepali citizen – were killed in the airstrikes that hit a Libyan migrant detention centre – Tajoura detention center for migrants – near the Libyan capital of Tripoli, today, according to Nepali embassy in Egypt’s capital city Cairo. The embassy has identified the deceased as 27-year-old Santosh Shrestha of Bensisahar-11 in Lamjung district.
According to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) in Libya, Shrestha was declared dead upon arrival at a hospital. The embassy in Cairo – citing the IOM – said that it is trying to gather further information about the deceased.
Shrestha had reached Libya paying money to brokers a few months back but could not earn as he expected. Brokers told him that he can earn more in Europe. Shrestha was preparing to leave for Europe paying some more money to the brokers. He had also called home and asked for Rs 600,000. His family sent Rs 600,000 to pay to the brokers in Italy a month back and thought he is on his way to Europe.
However, he was detained in the detention center for migrants near Tripoli with others, who try to illegally enter Europe through Libya.
The IOM had also asked for Shrestha’s travel document two days ago, according to press note that further reads that the embassy had sent the documents to the IOM in Egypt to be sent to IOM in Libya as courier service takes long time to dispatch the documents to war-torn Libya.
The air raid, involving two missiles, occurred in the early hours today morning and left the detention centre a charred ruin. The detention centre in the east of Tripoli was housing more than 610 people, where 44 – including many women and children – were killed and 130 severely injured when it was hit by two airstrikes.
The death toll represents one of the largest single losses of civilian life since the civil war in 2011, according to a the embassy press note that reads that eight other Nepalis stranded in Libya were rescued and sent to Nepal via Turkey today while the preparation is ongoing to send six other Nepalis in the Tripoli-based IOM camp to Nepal as soon as possible.
“In the past two months, including those eight, some 34 Nepalis have been rescued and sent back to Nepal,” the embassy said, adding that most of the Nepalis in the detention centre were brought to Libya by the human traffickers, who intended to send them to Italy from Libya.
The Nepali peacekeeping mission in Libya is, meanwhile, cooperating and coordinating on the matters related to Nepali migrants, according to the embassy press note.

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