The person in charge of Tawergha camp in the Airport Road of Tripoli, Ramadan Shlek, said Friday that the Central Security Service of Abu Salim Municipality ordered the residents of the camp to evacuate the place.
In a press statement, Shlek clarified that the evacuation was because of what he described as the behaviour of some of the camp's youth in conflict with the law, describing the situation inside the camp as bad after the issuance of the evacuation order.
Shlek pointed out that the residents of the camp are suffering difficulties in transporting their belongings from the camp, and some have no other place to go to nor do they know now where to go with their family.
The Central Security Service said it stormed the camp at dawn on Friday after receiving complaints from citizens - including some residents of the camp - about suspicious activities by some outlaws, including drugs, alcohol and theft.
A source from the Security Service said that the clashes took place on Friday at dawn after the security men were shot at during the arrests of some wanted persons from inside the camp, forcing the security men to fire back and arrest a number of the shooters, as well as evacuate the camp completely.
For his part, the head of the Local Council of Tawergha Abdul Rahman Shikshak, said in a press statement that the council's objection was not on the security measures to combat crime, but it opposes the manner in which it was carried out by evacuating the residents suddenly, without prior notice, adding that the camp at the Airport Road is housing more than 300 families and that the authorities have not taken any action on the ground so far.
The eviction was met with adverse reactions at the local and international levels, notably a statement by the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), condemning the forced eviction of displaced families from Tawergha camp at the Airport Road, leaving them homeless for the second time in seven years.
"The entry of the displaced person's camp, the destruction of houses while people are asleep, forcing them to flee, and leaving them homeless, constitutes a violation of their dignity and right to protection, as stipulated by international human rights law and international humanitarian law, the head of the UNSMIL Ghassan Salame reacted through the UN's mission website.
The Central Security Service of Abu Salim said that the local and international statements on the actions taken regarding the Tawergha refugee camp are not in the interest of the displaced or the security of the capital.
"The camps for the displaced in Tripoli have become a den of prostitution and drugs and pose a major security threat to the capital،" the Security Service explained through Facebook, stressing that reports indicated that the attacks on security patrols and the Man-made River System were committed by camp residents.
The Security Service of Abu Salim also insisted on the importance of the return of all displaced people to their cities, after the causes of displacement no longer exist, adding that some sought to serve their political interests in the troubled waters at the expense of the security of the capital.