Member of the Libyan Constitutional Drafting Assembly (CDA), Nadia Omran, has confirmed that the start of elections without the existence of a constitutional foundation and constitutional rules will lead to further divisions and suffering in the country. Nadia said in a press statement that all members of the CDA who signed the draft constitution are in favour of the movement “Referendum First”, which is supported by national institutions and figures, noting that the activities of the movement will include dialogues and sessions to push for a referendum on the draft constitution before embarking on the electoral process.
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The family of the recently murdered Mayor of Misrata, Mohamed Eshtiwi, took to the street along with a group of the city`s people and youth to demand a speedy investigation into his assassination. The protest, which was held on Monday morning in front of the city's Security Directorate, demanded a speed up of the investigation to uncover the perpetrators and arrest them as soon as possible. On the other hand, Misrata Security Directorate denied that the names spread on social media sites of being the perpetrators of the assassination, warning people not to be dragged into a world of rumors. Some social network pages have published names of around 7 people from Misrata and claimed they were the killers of Eshtiwi, which in fact is not untrue.
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The Libyan Organization against Violence and Hate Speech organized Tuesday a panel discussion on awareness of the risks of violence and hate speech through radio stations titled “Let Me Hear Goodness”. The discussion was held in collaboration with the Faculty of Arts and Media at the University of Tripoli. The organization stated on their official Facebook page that the dialogue, which was attended by members of the Libyan media as well as some writers, aimed to spread broad educational awareness regarding the dangers of violence and hate speech through radio stations and its impact on youth in Libya.
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The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Libya said it has successfully repatriated 1,200 people from various shelters of the Libyan Illegal Immigration Agency in 2017. The representative of the UNHCR in Libya, Roberto Mignone, told the Italian newspaper La Republica that the UNHCR expects these figures to increase in the year 2018 to reach an estimated from 5 to 10 thousand people. This comes after Italy received their first batch of migrants from Libya. 162 highly vulnerable migrants arrived by military aircraft in Rome on Friday. The migrants are from Yemen, Somalia, Ethiopia and Eritrea.
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The Educational Facilities Authority (EFA) has investigated the condition of schools located inside the Tawergha IDP camps in Tripoli, which were damaged by the flooding. The head of the Information Office of the EFA, Mustafa Al-Furjani, said they have formed a working group to monitor the requirements of schools and the maintenance of windows, treatment of ceilings, floors, water drainage services and the creation of an appropriate educational environment for the students in the schools. Al-Furjani pointed out that the number of students in the schools for basic education at the Airport Road camp is more than 150 and more than 200 students in Al-Falah and that students are divided into two sessions, one in the morning and the other being in the evening because of the lack of space.
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The Italian Prime Minister, Paolo Gentiloni, said that Operation Sofia personnel were able to identify 130 human traffickers in Libya. Gentiloni said in a statement quoted by the Italian newspaper La Republica on Sunday that Operation Sofia has saved approximately six hundred immigrant boats. He stressed that Italy has achieved exceptional results against “slavery” and guaranteed the humanitarian conditions of those who were in Libya, expressing his pride that his country is “the most generous in supporting immigrants”. The launch of Operation Sofia came in June 2015 after the disappearance of 800 illegal migrants who had drowned in the sea off the coast of Libya as they attempted to reach Europe via the Italian beaches.
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Sources from the oil and gas sector in Libya stated on Monday that the oil ports of Sidra, Brega and Zueitina in the oil crescent region have been reopened. The ports were closed due to the heavy rains, strong winds and low temperatures that hit the central and western regions of Libya at the end of last week.
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A number of members of the House of Representatives (HoR) have confirmed the postponement of the parliament’s Monday session due to the presence of only 30 members. The members suggested that the reason for the absence of their colleagues could possibly be that they were not able to book a flight to Tobruk airport because of congestion. It is worth noting that Monday's session was scheduled to discuss the inclusion of the Skhirat agreement in the constitutional declaration after it was postponed last week after a protest by Khalifa Haftar`s supporters who closed the headquarters of the HoR demanding the handover of power to Haftar and the abolition of the Libyan political agreement.
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