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 2 of 11 pages.
-
UNHCR activities financed by voluntary funds: Kenya
17 Jul 1995 ... Bantu, Barawas, Bjunis, Hawiye, Mareham, Ogaden). The Sudanese are predominantly from the Dinka and Nuer tribes. The Ethiopians are mainly Oromo nomads from southern Ethiopia. The others include ...... -
UNHCR Global Appeal 2010-2011 - Somalia
1 Dec 2009 ... The refugees and asylum seekers are mainly coming from the Oromiya and Ogadeni regions of Ethiopia. 80 UNHCR Global Appeal 2010–11 TYPE OF POPULATION ORIGIN JAN 2010 DEC 2010 - JAN 2011 DEC 2011 ...... -
Gulf of Yemen boatpeople motivated by insecurity, poverty at home
27 Mar 2008 ... They arrived with only the clothes on their backs. Both men are from the Oromo tribe in Ethiopia and said they had been jailed for their political beliefs. They fled, fearing they would be arrested ...... -
UNHCR Country Operations Plan 2004 - Yemen
1 Sep 2003 ... (71) and Ethiopians of Oromo origin (539) granted prima facie status who live in Kharaz camp. ... a month. (2) There will be an increase in the number of new arrivals of Ethiopian origin (Oromos). ...... -
UNHCR and humanitarian agencies strengthen health response in Kenya refugee camps
20 May 2020 ... reached more than 200,000 refugees, including through local radio, posters, leaflets, WhatsApp messages, social media and dedicated websites in Somali, Oromo, Dinka, Swahili, Nuer, French and English. ...... -
Refugees Magazine Issue 111 (Universal Declaration of Human Rights 50th Anniversary) - Cover story: Human Rights, Human Wrongs
1 Mar 1998 ... Another young woman on the run and in deep trouble at an early age is 18-year-old Yerusalem, a pretty girl from the Oromo tribe in Ethiopia who was forced to flee to Kenya several years ago during ...... -
UNHCR Ethiopa Update: Jan-Feb 2013
Feb 2013 ... To date, approximately 3,000 refugees who fled ethnic clashes in the same county in 2005/6 are accommodated in two sites in the Borena area of the Oromiya region. The fear at this point in time is ...... -
Ethiopian refugee family from Yemen start over in Sweden
31 Dec 2015 ... Originally from Badessa in Ethiopia's Oromia region, Ibrahim and his wife were forced to flee to Garowe in neighbouring Somalia in 2002. "I was accused of supporting the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) ...... -
UNHCR Country Operations Plan 2006 - Yemen
1 Sep 2005 ... ... All reside in Sana’a and other urban areas, with the exception of 663 Ethiopian Oromo who are accommodated in the Kharaz camp. The Ethiopian refugee community also includes some 720 former officers ......