Region

BEIRUT — For desperate Syrians, a WhatsApp message saying “I want to go to Europe” can be all they need to start a treacherous journey to Libya and then across the Mediterranean.

Twelve years after conflict broke out when President Bashar Assad repressed peaceful pro-democracy protests, Syrians are still trying to escape a war that has killed more than 500,000 people, displaced millions and pulled in foreign powers and global jihadists.

At least 141 Syrians were among up to 750 migrants thought to have been on a trawler that set off from Libya and sank off Greece in June, relatives and activists told AFP. Most of the passengers are feared drowned.

AFP interviewed Syrian smugglers and migrants about the journey to migrant hub Libya, notorious for rights abuses, and then across the central Mediterranean — the world’s deadliest migrant route.

Almost everyone requested anonymity, fearing reprisals.

 ‘A batch every month’ 

“We finalise everything by phone,” said a smuggler in Syria’s southern Daraa province.

“We ask for a copy of their passport and tell them where to deposit the money. We don’t have to see anyone in person,” he told AFP over WhatsApp.

Daraa, the cradle of Syria’s uprising, returned to regime control in 2018.

It has since been plagued by killings, clashes and dire living conditions, all of which are fuelling an exodus, activists say.

“The first year we started, we only sent one group. Today, we send a batch every month” to Libya, the smuggler said.

“People are selling their homes and leaving.”

Libya descended into chaos after a NATO-backed uprising toppled and killed leader Muammar Qadhafi in 2011, the same year Syria’s war began.

The North African country is split between a UN-recognised government in the west and another in the east backed by military strongman Khalifa Haftar, who has ties to Damascus.

Syrians deposit the money — more than $6,000 per person, with a third party, often an exchange office which takes a commission.

The smuggler declined to disclose his cut, but said he was paid once the migrants reached Italy. His partner in eastern Libya organises the actual boat trip.

‘Humiliated, beaten’ 

One travel agent in Daraa told an AFP correspondent posing as a migrant that a package deal cost $6,500.

This included a plane ticket, eastern Libya entry document, airport pickup, transport, accommodation, the boat journey to Italy and a life jacket, a WhatsApp message said.

Migrants stay “in a hotel or a furnished apartment”, it added, but Syrians said such promises were seldom kept.

They told AFP of overcrowded and disease-ridden warehouses, where armed guards subjected migrants to violence and extortion.

Omar, 23, from Daraa province, borrowed $8,000 to be smuggled to Libya and then Italy this year, saying he was desperate to leave “a country with no future”.

Now in Germany, he said he spent two weeks locked in a hangar near the coast in eastern Libya with around 200 other people.

“We were abused, yelled at, humiliated and beaten,” added Omar, who said guards gave them only meagre servings of rice, bread and cheese to eat.

On departure day, “around 20 armed men forced us to run” the distance from the hangar to the sea, “hitting us with the back of their rifles”, he said.

“When we finally reached the shores, I was exhausted. I couldn’t believe I’d made it.”

 Among mercenaries 

In part of northern Syria controlled by Ankara-backed rebel groups, a recruiter of fighters said he also smuggled migrants to Libya by listing them among pro-Turkey mercenaries.

Turkey supports the Tripoli administration in Libya’s west.

Ankara has largely shut down a once well-trodden route to Europe via Turkey.

“Every six months, we use the fighters’ rotation to send people with them,” the recruiter told AFP.

Syrians from the impoverished, opposition-held northern Idlib and Aleppo provinces, “particularly those living in displacement camps, contact us”, the recruiter said.

Listed as “fighters”, the Syrian migrants are entitled to a Turkish-paid “salary” of around $2,500, the recruiter said.

The armed group pockets $1,300, the recruiter takes the rest and the migrants get a free flight to Libya, he said.

Syrians first go to border camps for pro-Ankara fighters before crossing into Turkey and flying to the Libyan capital Tripoli.

They spend two weeks in Syrian militia camps in western Libya before being introduced to smugglers, who ask around $2,000 for the boat trip to Italy, he added.

 ‘To hide our tracks’ 

For those in regime-held Syria, getting to Libya can involve criss-crossing the Middle East on a variety of airlines and sometimes overland — “to hide our tracks”, the smuggler in Daraa said.

AFP saw a group ticket for around 20 Syrian migrants who travelled to neighbouring Lebanon and then flew from Beirut to a Gulf state, then to Egypt, before finally landing in Benghazi in eastern Libya.

Direct flights are also available from Damascus to Benghazi with private Syrian carrier Cham Wings.

The European Union blacklisted Cham Wings in 2021 for its alleged role in irregular migration to Europe via Belarus, lifting the measures in July last year.

Several Syrians told AFP that on their flights to Benghazi, direct or not, were many migrants bound for Europe.

Spokesperson Osama Satea said Cham Wings carried only travellers with valid Libyan entry documents, noting the presence of a considerable Syrian diaspora there.

He told AFP the airline is not responsible for determining whether passengers are travelling for work or for other reasons, but “it certainly doesn’t fly to Libya to contribute to smuggling or migration attempts”.

 ‘There was terror’ 

Syrians arriving in Benghazi need a security authorisation from the eastern authorities to enter.

But the Daraa smuggler told AFP this was not a problem: “In Libya, like in Syria, paying off security officials can solve everything.”

“We have a guy in the security apparatus who gets the authorisations just with a click,” he said.

Migrants told AFP a smuggler’s associate, sometimes a security officer, escorted them out of Benghazi’s Benina airport.

One security authorisation seen by AFP bore the logo of Haftar’s forces and listed the names and passport numbers of more than 80 Syrians bound for Europe.

Once in Libya, the Syrians may wait weeks or months for the journey’s most perilous part.

More than 1,800 migrants of various nationalities have died crossing the central Mediterranean towards Europe this year, according to International Organization for Migration figures.

Around 90,000 others have arrived in Italy, according to the UN refugee agency, most having embarked from Libya or Tunisia.

A 23-year-old from northern Syria’s Kurdish-held Kobane was among around 100 survivors of the June shipwreck off Greece.

He paid more than $6,000 for a trip that almost cost him his life.

“There was terror,” he said.

Six people died in desperate fights over food and water, and “on the fifth day, we started drinking seawater”.

“I wanted to leave the war behind, live my life and help my family,” he said from Europe, warning others against making the trip.

“I was promised decent lodgings and a safe trawler, but I got nothing.”

TRIPOLI — Gun battles between two leading armed groups in the Libyan capital Tripoli have killed 27 people and wounded 106, a toll update from the Emergency Medicine Centre said Wednesday.

The centre, which provides emergency services in the west of Tripoli, published the "provisional" toll on its Facebook page overnight.

The clashes between the influential 444 Brigade and the Al-Radaa, or Special Deterrence Force, two of the myriad of militias that have vied for power since the overthrow of longtime leader Muammar Qadhafi in 2011, erupted on Monday night and raged through Tuesday.

A total of 234 families were evacuated from front line areas in the capital's southern suburbs, along with dozens of doctors and nurses who had got trapped by the fighting while caring for the wounded, the centre said.

Three field hospitals and a fleet of around 60 ambulances had been dispatched to the area when the fighting broke out.

The clashes were triggered by the detention of the head of the 444 Brigade, Colonel Mahmoud Hamza, by the rival Al-Radaa Force on Monday, an interior ministry official said.

Late Tuesday, the social council in the southeastern suburb of Soug El-Joumaa, a stronghold of the Al Radaa force, announced an agreement had been reached with Prime Minister Abdelhamid Dbeibah, head of the UN-recognised government based in the capital, for Hamza to be handed over to a "neutral party".

In a televised announcement, the council said a ceasefire would follow the transfer of the force's commander and late Tuesday the fighting abated.

Both armed groups are aligned with Dbeibah’s government, one of two rival administrations that vie for power through shifting alliances with the militias on the ground.

In May, the two sides had clashed for hours in Tripoli, also after the arrest of a 444 Brigade member.

Libya has seen more than a decade of stop-start conflict since the NATO-backed revolt that toppled Qadhafi.

International appeals for calm 

A period of relative stability had led the United Nations to express hope for delayed elections to take place this year, and the latest fighting triggered international calls for calm.

The United Nations Support Mission in Libya said in a statement it was “following with concern” the security deterioration in the Libyan capital and its impact on civilians.

“All parties must preserve the security gains achieved in recent years and address differences through dialogue,” UNSMIL said.

The embassies of Britain, France, the European Union and the United States, echoed the UN call for de-escalation.

GENEVA — Four months into Sudan’s conflict, the situation is spiralling out of control, with mass displacement and millions on the verge of famine, humanitarian organisations warned on Tuesday, urging immediate international action.

Since Sudan’s conflict erupted on April 15, the country has been plunged into a dire humanitarian crisis, with the United Nations also warning of arbitrary killings and rampant sexual abuse.

In a joint appeal, the heads of 20 global organisations pointed out that “more than 6 million Sudanese people are one step away from famine”.

“The situation is spiralling out of control,” said the statement, signed by the heads of numerous United Nations agencies, along with organisations including Save the Children and CARE.

The signatories pointed out that more than 14 million children need humanitarian aid and over four million people have fled the fighting, either within the war-ravaged country or as refugees to neighbouring states.

At the same time, they warned, “time is running out for farmers to plant the crops that will feed them and their neighbours”.

They decried the lacklustre international response four months into the fighting between Sudan’s army, led by General Abdel Fattah Al Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of his former deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.

‘No excuse’ 

“There is no excuse for waiting,” said the statement, pointing out that two appeals for aid to help some 19 million Sudanese “are just over 27-per cent funded”.

“Please change that.”

The UN said it so far had received just a quarter of the $2.57 billion it has appealed for to help people inside Sudan, and just 31 per cent of the $566 million requested to help those who have fled as refugees to neighbouring countries.

The signatories assured the people of Sudan that their organisations would “continue to push for access to all people and in all areas of Sudan to bring humanitarian supplies and essential services”.

They called for an “immediate cessation of hostilities”, and demanded that the parties to the conflict “grant us safe and unfettered access” to provide desperately needed aid.

They highlighted reports of widespread attacks on civilians, looting of humanitarian supplies, targeting of aid workers, civilians assets and infrastructure, including hospitals, and the blocking of humanitarian assistance.

Such acts, they warned, “may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity”.

The UN human rights office said its figures, which are surely an undercount, indicate that more than 4,000 people have so far been killed in the fighting, including 28 humanitarian and health workers and 435 children.

Sexual violence 

The UN voiced particular concern for women and girls caught up in the conflict, amid “shocking incidence of sexual violence, including rape”.

“We’ve seen an increase of more than 900 percent in the conflict areas of gender-based violence,” Laila Baker of the United Nations Population Fund told reporters in Geneva via video link from Cairo.

“Those women are incredibly at risk,” she said.

The victims of such violence, which in a number of cases end up pregnant, find themselves with little or no access to assistance and care, she warned.

UN rights chief Volker Turk, meanwhile, said in a statement that his office had “received credible reports of 32 incidents of sexual violence against 73 victims as of 2 August”.

“This includes at least 28 incidents of rape. Men in RSF uniform were implicated in at least 19 incidents as perpetrators,” he said, stressing that “the actual number of cases is likely much higher”.

HABBANIYAH, Iraq — Iraqi merchant Mohamed has never seen such a grim tourist season: Years of drought have shrunken the majestic Lake Habbaniyah, keeping away the holidaymakers who once flocked there during summer.

"The last two years, there was some activity, but now there's no more water," said 35-year-old Mohamed, asking to be identified by his first name only.

He laid out inflatable water floats, nets and shirts in front of his lakeside shop, but expected few if any customers.

"This year, it's dry, dry!" Mohamed told AFP, his shirt soaked in sweat in the inhospitable heat of nearly 50ºC.

Shorelines at Habbaniyah, about 70 kilometres west of the capital Baghdad, have receded by several dozen metres after four consecutive years of drought ravaged parts of the country.

The United Nations ranks water-stressed Iraq as one of five countries most impacted by some effects of climate change.

When full, as it last was in 2020, the lake can hold up to 3.3 billion cubic metres of water, said Jamal Odeh Samir, director of water resources in Anbar province, where Habbaniyah is located.

But now "the lake contains no more than 500 million cubic metres of water", he told AFP.

Shops like Mohamed's and holiday homes by the lake now sit empty in the height of summer. On the beach, stray dogs wander between unused umbrellas.

To get to the water, visitors must walk through foul-smelling mud that was once submerged under the lake surface.

'Only place to relax' 

The resort was created around the artificial lake in 1979, becoming a popular destination for tourists from across the Middle East in the following years.

Declining rainfall over the past four years and rising temperatures have hit Habbaniya,  alongside much of the rest of the country, hard.

Baghdad blames upstream dam construction by Turkey on a staggering low water level in the Euphrates river, which feeds the lake and also runs through Syria.

“The strategic water reserves in Iraq are at their lowest point” in nearly a century, Khaled Shamal, spokesman for the water resources ministry, has warned.

Last week during a visit to Baghdad, United Nations human rights chief Volker Turk warned that “rising temperatures plus the drought, and the fact that the loss of diversity is a reality, is a wake-up call for Iraq and for the world”.

Sada’a Saleh Mohamed, a local official overseeing finances at the Habbaniyah resort, said “the lake has receded” and tourism has become “really very weak”.

“The lake has become a pond of stagnant water, unsuitable for consumption or for swimming,” he said.

When evening fell and temperatures dropped slightly, a few people finally arrived to barbecue on the beach.

Qassem Lafta came with his family from the nearby city of Fallujah.

“Before, we would come here and it was much better, the water was higher,” said the 45-year-old merchant.

He said he hoped authorities would revive the lake.

“It’s the only place where people from Anbar, southern Iraq and Baghdad can come to relax.”

TARHUNA, Libya — A photograph of Mourad Allafi hangs in the family farmhouse in western Libya three years after he was found in a mass grave. His father wants his killers dead.

Mohamad Allafi believes the prison terms of six years to life handed down by a military court in February to 30 people convicted of murder are not enough.

And relatives of the hundreds of others who were tortured, killed and dumped in row upon row of mass graves in Tarhuna agree with him.

The families who lost relatives in the mass killings say that only the death penalty can ease the pain of those who have lost children murdered “in cold blood”.

Capital punishment is still legal in Libya, but the ultimate penalty is not often applied.

Many families in Libya are still reeling from the years of violence and injustice that followed the toppling and killing in 2011 of Muammar Qadhafi.

The dictator’s demise plunged the North African country into chaos.

Tarhuna, a town some 80 kilometres south of the capital Tripoli with a population of 40,000, stands out because of the atrocities committed there.

A feared militia called the Kaniyat, named after the six brothers who ran it, seized Tarhuna in 2015 and set about systematically silencing opponents and often their entire families.

Lions that the Al Kani brothers kept during their reign of terror were rumoured to feed on the flesh of their victims.

Mohamad Allafi will never forget the day the Kaniyat abducted his 30-year-old son in 2019.

“I called him dozens of times that night, but in vain,” he said in a trembling voice.

Searching for bodies 

Mourad had “stayed well away from politics and militias”, his father insists.

His only crime, in the Kaniyat’s eyes, was holding an ID card that showed he belonged to the Na’aji tribe which opposed the militia’s violent grip on the town.

For a time, the Al Kani brothers sided with militias based in Tripoli.

But when eastern-based military strongman Khalifa Haftar launched an assault on the capital in 2019, the clan switched sides and offered him Tarhuna as a rear base.

When Haftar’s forces were routed a year later, the Al Kanis disappeared.

Three of the brothers, including Mohamed their leader, were killed, and locals in Tarhuna believe the other three are now hiding.

With the Al Kanis gone from Tarhuna, residents started looking for mass graves. They chipped away at the hard ochre earth with spades, desperate to find signs of the many disappeared.

The body of Mourad Allafi was one of 350 to be discovered.

Libya’s authority for the disappeared has so far identified 226 sets of remains, and is still searching for more in three main sites.

A second trial of dozens of others suspected of involvement in the Tarhuna killings is expected to conclude in the coming weeks, the justice ministry said.

But many of the townspeople are sceptical that this will bring them closure.

Three demands 

“The military prosecutor’s office tried people for the crimes in Tarhuna and delivered unjust and insufficient verdicts,” said Mossab Abou Kleich of an association of victims’ families, referring to February’s verdict.

“They should have been sentenced to death,” he said.

“No family is satisfied with just prison sentences for those proven to be directly responsible for murdering hundreds of civilians,” Abou Kleich added.

He called for punishment “commensurate with the crime that was committed”.

Abou Kleich said the families’ three main demands are “finding the missing, pursuing and prosecuting the criminals, and reparations”.

He says the government should prioritise compensating the families whose property was destroyed, which will help ease tribal tensions in Tarhuna and bring an end to this bloody chapter in the town’s history.

Whatever the outcome of the court proceedings, the tragedy of Tarhuna will continue to affect people’s lives.

“Since Mourad’s killing, my wife and I have been sick. I have diabetes and hypertension, and my wife is bedridden from the unbearable pain,” said Allafi, his younger son Abdelhakim by his side.

Four years later, Mahmoud al-Marghani still can’t explain to his nieces and nephews — aged seven, 10 and 14 — why their father Khaled disappeared in June 2019.

The 59-year-old was abducted by three unidentified men from his home and forced into a large 4X4. He is still missing.

“He went on a trip,” Marghani tells them when they ask about their father.

He cannot bring himself to tell them that one of the “criminals admitted torturing and killing him”.

TUNIS — At least five people died on Monday and seven others are missing after their Europe-bound migrant boat sank off Tunisia’s coast, a judicial official in the city of Sfax told AFP.

Sfax has emerged as a major hub for migrants from Tunisia and other parts of Africa attempting perilous voyages across the Mediterranean, often in rickety boats in hopes of a better life.

Court spokesman Faouzi Masmoudi said “35 people, most of them Tunisians” including women and children were on board the boat that went down “shortly after departing from the coast of Sidi Mansour” near Sfax.

The deaths include at least one child and two women, Masmoudi said, adding that “23 people have been rescued”.

The boat sank “less than an hour after departure”, according to the spokesman.

Last week judicial officials reported the deaths of at least 11 migrants in a shipwreck off Sfax, as the North African country sees a spike in attempted sea crossings.

The eastern Tunisian port city is located about 130 kilometres from the Italian island of Lampedusa.

The court has launched an investigation into the latest shipwreck, Masmoudi said, as search operations were under way.

More than 1,800 people have died this year in shipwrecks on the central Mediterranean migration route, the world’s deadliest — more than twice as many as last year, according to the International Organisation for Migration.

Growing numbers 

The Tunisian coastguard says it intercepted 34,290 migrants in the six months to June 20, most from sub-Saharan African countries, compared with 9,217 over the same period in 2022.

The number of people from sub-Saharan African countries trying to make the crossing has spiked since Tunisian President Kais Saied alleged in a February speech that “hordes” of irregular migrants were causing crime and posing a demographic threat to the mainly Arab country.

Many have also fled since hundreds of migrants were arrested or chased into the desert after the deadly stabbing of a Tunisian man in a brawl with migrants in Sfax on July 3.

Tunisians have opted for the sea journeys in growing numbers as the country faces a grinding economic crisis and severe shortages of basic staples.

On Saturday, at least two Tunisians including a baby died when their boat sank soon after leaving the coast in Gabes, south of Sfax, the coastguard said.

Italy says about 95,000 migrants have arrived on its shores since the start of the year — more than double the number for the same period in 2022.

Tunisians are the fourth-largest group among them, behind migrants from the Ivory Coast, Guinea and Egypt.

Mouhamed Borhen Chamtouri, a commander of the coastguard in Sfax, told AFP on Thursday that this month the force had intercepted about 3,000 migrants in just 10 days, 90 per cent of whom were from other parts of Africa.

In July, the European Union signed an agreement with Tunisia that provides for 105 million euros ($115 million) in direct European aid to prevent the departure of migrant boats and combat smugglers.

AMMAN — Rising Stars Arabia (RSA), the first fighting series of its kind in the UAE and the MENA region, is set to host a milestone event on September 9 at Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Arena, showcasing the best of Arab boxing talent to an international and regional audience 

The event is promoted by AAM Seddiqi Sports and sponsored by the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi), according to a statement from the event’s organisers.

AAM Seddiqi Sports founder, Ahmed A. Seddiqi, said: “It’s time to show the world that in addition to hosting major events in the region, we also have homegrown talents that can perform at the highest level of boxing and become superstars of the sport. We are proud to host this monumental event in Abu Dhabi and would like to thank DCT Abu Dhabi for believing in us and putting their trust in the RSA platform.”

Sanctioned by the Middle East Professional Boxing Commission, the RSA event will be broadcasted live on regional and international platforms such as Abu Dhabi Sports TV and ESPN Knockout, further bolstering Abu Dhabi’s reputation as the combat sports capital of the Arabian Peninsula.

Saleh Al Geziry, Director General for Tourism at DCT Abu Dhabi, said: “The arrival of Rising Stars Arabia in the emirate further cements Abu Dhabi’s status as a regional hub for combat sports and other major athletic events and franchises. We remain committed to enabling the development of homegrown talent and are proud to support this impressive line-up of Emirati and Arab fighters who are helping to promote and elevate the sport in the UAE and wider region. With this ground-breaking fight series, not only are we nurturing a sport, we are proving once again that Abu Dhabi is a premier tourism destination offering diverse and exciting entertainment experiences to our residents and visitors from around the world.”

Headlining the first event is the fight between Moroccan talent Moussa Gholam (20-1-0, 12KOs), currently ranked 14th in WBC, against former world title challenger Matias Carlos Adrian Rueda (37-2-0, 32KOs). This fight marks Gholam's debut in the Middle East, and both fighters are world title contenders. 

The co-main event will feature the UAE’s own Sultan Al Nuaimi (9-0-0, 6KOs) in a 10-round bout, where he will take on Jemsi Kibazange (18-6-2, 5KOs) from Tanzania. Sultan, known for his speed and agility, made waves with his impressive performance at the last event promoted by Matchroom Boxing in Abu Dhabi. Nuaimi is one of only a few professional boxers in the country, is a previous UAE champion in the amateurs, and is expected to put on a thrilling show for his home crowd.

Bader Samreen is a titan from Jordan’s professional boxing scene and a bronze medallist in the amateur world champions. He boastseight wars and eight wins -sevenclaimed by delivering jaw-dropping knockouts, each more electrifying than the last. Samreen will be stepping into the ring against tough and experienced Mexican fighter Jose Gonzales, with 16 wins to his name, ensuring a fight to remember.

The event will also feature Jordanian boxer Bishara Sabbar (6-0-0, 4KOs) and India’s Mohd Azahar (8-5-1, 7KOs) going head-to-head for the WBC Youth World Title. Other notable fighters participating in the event include two youth Olympian boxers from Egypt Cruiser weight, Youssef Karrar (1-0-0, 0KO), and Marwan Mohamad Madboly (2-0-0, 1KO). Other bouts will include fighters from Iran, Bahrain and Morocco.

AAM Seddiqi Sports has been promoting and managing fighters in the region for 10 years, and has a stable of more than 30 regional and global talents. Events include five world title shows that have been broadcasted globally on ESPN, Sky Sports and other major networks.

DCT Abu Dhabi is responsible for promoting, protecting and progressing the emirate by driving the strategic and sustainable growth of Abu Dhabi’s culture and tourism sectors. As part of its mandate, the department is responsible for promoting regional and global sporting events in the emirate.

Tickets to Rising Stars Arabia are on sale now at abu-dhabi.platinumlist.net. Leading up to the event, fans can find updates on the AAM Seddiqi Sports Instagram channel @seddiqiboxing.