Hundreds protest in Libya outside UN agency against undocumented migrants

Hundreds of Libyans have gathered outside the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) headquarters in Tripoli to protest against undocumented migrants that they say should leave Libya.

Protesters on Thursday chanted “Libya belongs to Libyans” and called for the closure of the UNHCR headquarters in the capital. They were seen holding signs reading: “Our love for our country is not racism” and “Libya is not the world’s garbage bin.”

Demonstrators accused the UN agency of seeking to settle undocumented migrants in the North African country.

Since a NATO-backed uprising in ⁠2011, Libya has become a transit route for hundreds of thousands of migrants fleeing conflict and poverty, often from sub-Saharan Africa, with many risking dangerous journeys across the ⁠desert or the Mediterranean.

The UN agency in Libya, UNSMIL, affirmed the rights of all Libyans to express their opinions, but warned about the spread of “misleading information and hate speech” regarding its work in the country, “which contributes to increased tensions and incitement against the UN national and international officials”.

UN agencies “are not implementing any programmes to resettle migrants in Libya and all claims against that are completely unhealthy”, the mission said in a statement on Thursday.

The UN High Commission for Refugees Affairs is “working to find solutions outside Libya for people fleeing wars, conflicts and persecution, including evacuation to third countries, and voluntary return to their countries when circumstances allow”, it added.

It also condemned any incitement of violence or threats targeting UN staff, as well as acts of vandalism and attacks on its personnel and property.

Thursday’s was the largest of several recent anti-migrant demonstrations in Libya, with some of the Libyan population beginning to blame them for social and economic problems that have become more visible during 15 years of conflict and political division in the North African country.

They erected tents, then brought a truck full ⁠of sand and closed the main gate of the building ⁠with a barrier, shouting, “The Libyan people have said their word,” and carrying signs reading “No to intruders in our country, take them out.”

Libya, with an estimated total population of about 7 million, hosts about ⁠900,000 migrants, according to International Organization for Migration estimates. Many are Sudanese refugees who have fled the civil war in their home country.