Page 111 - A Helping Hand for Refugees

And this is what we see in Libya; thousands of refugees and
migrants have fled from their homeland and crossed the borders of the
country to look for a better life with hopes for safety, income and a
future. These are refugees from Eritrea, Iraq, Palestine, Somalia, Sudan
and Syria, and since 2011 there are an increasing number of people who
have sought protection in Libya; some of them have special needs as
they have encountered savagery in their countries and had to leave

behind their families and all their belongings. As of April 2014, a total
of 9,240 refugees and 26,298 asylum seekers were registered with the
UNHCR in Libya and still, a significant number of migrants continue
to enter the country using irregular channels. Yet they are in a conun-
drum right now as the violence in the country is escalating.

In the past months, due to clashes which have disrupted social
integrity and security, most diplomats as well as foreign workers in
Libya have evacuated the country through assistance from their gov-
ernments or employers. But there are tens of thousands of undocu-
mented migrants and asylum seekers in Libya who are in the hands

of people smugglers that promise them a route for escape in return of
at least $1,000.

Migrants are moved across Libya's Sahara Desert by gangs and at
the coast they are handed over to agents who find them boats from
smugglers. Even during the time of Gaddafi, Libya was already a hub
for the human trafficking trade. For asylum seekers who flee persecu-
tion in their countries, Libya is like a point of departure with hopes to
cross the Mediterranean to reach southern Italy and from there, safe
passage to other cities in Europe. The number of boats now departing
Libya for Europe has increased from about five a day prior to the cur-

rent conflict to 15 a day. Now, thousands of people – mainly sub-
Saharan Africans – are trying to escape war in their adopted homeland
Libya by getting on overcrowded and leaking boats. Many of the pas-
sengers perish during the journey, and over 1,000 people have died in
the Mediterranean this year alone. Others arrive exhausted from the

Adnan Oktar (Harun Yahya) 109