Major fallout over attack on Libyan detention centre

The UN Security Council has failed to condemn an attack on the Tajoura detention centre for migrants in Libya because the US did not endorse a proposed statement. Legalbrief reports that at least 44 people have died in what the US State Department described as an abhorrent attack. Washington has not called for an independent investigation but a State Department spokesperson said the incident underscored the urgent need for all Libyan parties to resume negotiations. The Guardian reports that about 3 000 migrants are housed in locations close to the fighting. Since warlord Khalifa and his National Liberation Forces launched an assault on the UN-backed Government of Fayez al-Sarraj in Tripoli, concerns over the safety of migrants has grown. In the case of the Tajoura facility, the UN’s refugee agency had warned that anyone inside the detention centre was at risk of being caught in the fighting around Tripoli. Amnesty had also warned of the risk of detaining migrants close to a military site after an airstrike hit a military vehicle about 100m from the detention centre on 7 May.

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