Fresh account from survivor of boat fleeing Libya
This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson Melissa Fleming – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at today's press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.
Yesterday morning UNHCR staff met with three Oromo Ethiopian men who told us they were among only nine survivors from a boat carrying 72 people that set out from Tripoli on 25 March.
One of them told UNHCR staff that their 12 metre boat destined for Europe was packed to a point that there was barely standing room. The boat ran out of fuel, water and food and drifted for more than two weeks before reaching a beach in Libya.
The refugee said that military vessels twice passed their boat without stopping, and that a military helicopter dropped food and water onto the boat at some point during the journey. The first boat refused their request to board. The second only took photos, he said. The man was not able to identify where the vessels came from.
UNHCR staff met with the three in Shousha camp in Tunisia. One spoke Arabic, while the others spoke Oromo. UNHCR interviewed the Arabic speaker. He said that they paid smugglers US$800 to make the journey. The passengers were expected to operate the boat on their own.
According to the refugee, when water ran out people drank sea water and their own urine. They ate toothpaste. One by one people started to die. He said that they waited for a day or two before dropping the bodies into the sea. There were 20 women and two small children on board. A woman with a two-year-old boy died three days before he died. The refugee described the anguish of the boy after his mother's death.
After arrival on a beach near Zliten, between Tripoli and the Tunisian border, a woman died on the beach from exhaustion. The remaining 10 men walked to the town of Zliten where they were arrested by the Libyan police. They were taken to a hospital and then to a prison where they were given some water, milk and dates. After two days another survivor died.
After begging jail staff to take the remaining survivors back to hospital, they were taken to a hospital in al-Khums city. Doctors and nurses were said to have given the group water and told them to leave. They were returned to the prison and then taken to Twesha jail near Tripoli. Finally Ethiopian friends in Tripoli paid the prison US$900 to release the men. UNHCR is now providing them with assistance in Tunisia.
For further information on this topic, please contact:
- In Tunisia: Helene Caux on mobile: +216 928 27 423 or +41 79 217 31 93
- In Tunisia: Firas Kayal on mobile +216 508 561 99
- In Geneva: Sybella Wilkes on mobile +41 79 557 91 38
- In Geneva: Melissa Fleming on number +41 22 739 91 22
Related news and stories
AU, EU and UN push for urgent action to address the pressing needs of migrants and refugees in Libya
Insecurity and COVID-19 fuel refugee mental health concerns in Libya
First UNITY Cup shows the power of football to connect refugees and hosts
Repaired Benghazi home brings comfort after loss and displacement
Libya: Returning Home in Dignity
Scholarships in Italy allow refugees to dream again
Your search for « oromo » matched 98 results. Displaying page 6 of 11 pages.
-
Update on regional developments in Africa
31 May 1996 ... ... by hundreds of Ethiopian asylum-seekers of Oromo ethnic origin requesting protection and ... the Relief Society of Tigray (REST), the Oromo Self-Help Organization (OSHO), the National ...... -
UNHCR Global Appeal 2001 - Ethiopia
1 Dec 2000 ... ... Médecins sans Frontières (NL) Opportunities Industrial Centre Organisation for Development in Amhara Oromo Self Help Organisation Radda Barnen (S) Refugee Care Netherlands Rehabilitation and ...... -
UNHCR Global Report 2002 - Sudan
1 Jun 2003 ... ... the imple- mentation of the Cessation Clause for Eritreans, some 65 Ethiopian families of Oromo origin were interviewed for RSD, and 53 families (126 individ- uals) were found to be of concern ...... -
ATCR/WGR Newsletter No 3
Feb 2010 ... ... Belonging to the Oromo ethnicity, she and fellow Oromo persons were in urgent need of resettlement, some having survived torture and sexual and gender-based violence. Part of the group has now been ...... -
Working towards inclusion - Refugees within the national systems of Ethiopia
Dec 2017 ... ... At present, Ethiopia is administratively structured into nine geographical regions– Tigray, Afar, Amhara, Oromiya, Somali, Beneshangul-Gumuz, Southern Nations nationalities and Peoples, Gambella and ...... -
UNHCR Global Report 2000 - Ethiopia
1 Jun 2001 ... ... The involvement of the Regional Bureaux of Agriculture of Oromiya and the Somali National State in ... Organisation for Development in Amhara Oromo Self Help Organisation Radda Barnen (Sweden) ...... -
UNHCR Global Appeal 2002 - Ethiopia
1 Dec 2001 ... ... Médecins sans Frontières (NL) Opportunities Industrial Centre Organisation for Development in Amhara Oromo Self Help Organisation Radda Barnen (S) Refugee Care Netherlands Rehabilitation and ...... -
UNHCR Country Operations Plan 2006 - Kenya
1 Sep 2005 ... ... In view of the persistent tension between the Ethiopian Government and certain Oromo groups, the number of Ethiopians seeking asylum to Kenya may increase in 2006, putting an additional burden on the ...... -
In Pursuit of the Southern Dream: Victims of Necessity. Assessment of the Irregular Movement of Men from East Africa and the Horn to South Africa
Apr 2009 ... ... This outflow of Ethiopians continued into the mid-1990s, during which time ethnic Oromo Ethiopians ... The Oromo people in the south and south-east of the country, in particular, have allegedly felt the ......