European Union imposes additional sanctions for human rights abuses and arms embargo violations in Libya

The European Union (EU) has implemented sanctions on three entities that have violated the UN arms embargo in Libya. Additionally, two individuals have also been sanctioned, one individual for human rights abuses against migrants and refugees in the notorious human trafficking hub Bani Walid, and the other for supplying military equipment material to the country. The sanctions are the result of follow-up by the EU on Libya, which it states is part of its commitment to peace and security in the country. This article outlines some of the activities and statements of the EU in relation to Libya in the last month.

News Highlights: Landmark ruling for 5 Eritreans illegally pushed back to Libya, Increased use of dangerous routes amid restrictions, Sea-Watch allowed to disembark 353 people

In this week’s news highlights: Saudi Arabia detains and abuses African migrants in inhumane prisons; Increased locust threat Ethiopia and Eritrea; Increased pressure to stop migration creates more dangerous routes to Europe; Italian court rules in favour of 5 illegally pushed back Eritrean asylum seekers; Escalation of conflict shapes up in Libya, warns UNSMIL; Tunisians increasingly leave for Europe; New refugee ship funded by Banksy enters Mediterranean; Sea-Watch 4 to bring 353 people to Palermo; Refugee children negatively affected by EU migration policy, warns Save the Children; Asylum seekers in danger from error in Dutch asylum organisation; Migrant woman gives birth in helicopter; And British government accused of animosity towards refugees.

News Highlights: Alarm Phone’s reconstruction of deadly shipwreck week, refugee food rations cut amid funding shortages in East Africa, Italy convicts three men for crimes in Libyan detention center

In this week’s news highlights: Alarm Phone’s reconstruction of deadly week of shipwrecks off Libya’s coast; 15-fold increase in Libyan COVID-19 cases; IOM resumes migrant repatriation flights from Libya; Major food ration cuts for refugees in East Africa amid funding shortages; Many missing persons from Horn countries and Libya; Eritrean activist missing for over two years in Ethiopia; Italy convicts three men to twenty years in prison for crimes in Libyan detention centre; NGO Mediterranea to resume search-and-rescue operations; France relocates 49 unaccompanied children from Greece; Bosnia and Herzegovina’s restrictions on asylum seekers “discriminatory and reckless”; And Greece continues to claim ‘fake news’ as evidence of abuse and illegal pushbacks mount.