UN refugee agency says it is being expelled from Libya without explanation

By ELIANE ENGELER , Associated Press

GENEVA - The U.N. refugee agency said Tuesday it is being expelled from Libya without explanation despite being responsible for thousands of refugees in the North African country.

The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees received a note from Libyan authorities last week ordering it to cease its work and leave the country, said the agency's spokeswoman Melissa Fleming.

"We very much regret this decision," she said. "We have not been given any reason by the Libyan authorities for why we should leave the country."

Libya's Foreign Ministry accused the agency of operating illegally in the country.

Fleming said the refugee agency is trying to negotiate with Libya and hopes the expulsion is only temporary. The agency, which has been working in Libya since 1991, screens people fleeing to Libya because the country has no procedure for registering asylum seekers or refugees.

Many desperate Africans come to Libya to try to sneak into the European Union by getting on a rickety boat headed for Malta or Italy.



UNHCR spokeswoman, Melissa Fleming

"UNHCR is the asylum system in Libya and this will leave a huge vacuum for the thousands of refugees and asylum seekers who are there already and of course those who continue to arrive steadily on boats," said Fleming.

The agency has already registered about 9,000 refugees from the Palestinian territories, Iraq, Sudan, Somalia and other African countries. In addition, there are about 3,700 asylum seekers in Libya, mostly from Eritrea, some of whom are being held in detention centers, she said.

UNHCR also provides refugees and asylum seekers with shelter, medical care and other aid. It has 26 staff members in the country, mostly local employees.

The agency tries to find new homes in other countries for all the refugees because it says staying in Libya is not an option. Libya has not signed the global refugee convention, which forbids nations to deport refugees to countries where they may face persecution.

UNHCR appealed for help to the Libyan President of the U.N. General Assembly, Ali Abdessalam Treki.

His spokesman, Jean-Victor Nkolo said Treki received a letter from UNHCR chief Antonio Guterres regarding the agency's situation in Libya. But he declined to comment on the content.

Libya has significantly increased its presence at the U.N. in recent years and held the presidency of the Security Council in January 2008 and in March 2009.

Last year, Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's speech before the General Assembly, his first there in 40 years, was a diatribe lasting more than an hour and a half.

He compared the U.N.'s most powerful arm, the Security Council, to a 'Terror Council', protesting its domination by five permanent members. He also offered a number of conspiracy theories regarding matters ranging from swine flu to the assassinations of former President John F. Kennedy and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

In a separate statement, UNHCR said it was worried about some 20 Eritreans who were rescued at sea trying to reach Malta from Libya. The passengers made distress calls Sunday and were finally rescued late Monday by Libyan authorities.

Fleming said Maltese and Italian maritime authorities ignored the distress calls and relied on Libya to rescue the people.

Also Tuesday, the UNHCR urged four European governments to reconsider deporting Iraqi citizens to Baghdad, citing ongoing turmoil in the city. The agency said it believes that Britain, Norway, Sweden and the Netherlands are planning deportations for later this week. It did not say how many people were facing deportation.

The agency said people from several areas in Iraq, including Baghdad, should continue to be protected by refugee status because of "the volatile security situation and the still high level of prevailing violence, security incidents, and human rights violations taking place."

Matthew Coats, head of immigration at the U.K. Border Agency, said Britain only deports people that both the government and the courts are satisfied do not need protection but who also refuse to leave voluntarily.

The security situation in Iraq is "significantly better" than it was in 2008, and voluntary returns to the country have been increasing, he said in a statement.

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AP writers Jennifer Quinn in London and Khaled al-Deeb in Tripoli contributed to this report.