Libya: GNA Grants Chadians Passports amid Growing Concerns

Libyan National Army forces pose for picture as they head for Benghazi to reinforce troops advancing to Tripoli, Libya (File photo: Reuters)
Libyan National Army forces pose for picture as they head for Benghazi to reinforce troops advancing to Tripoli, Libya (File photo: Reuters)
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Libya: GNA Grants Chadians Passports amid Growing Concerns

Libyan National Army forces pose for picture as they head for Benghazi to reinforce troops advancing to Tripoli, Libya (File photo: Reuters)
Libyan National Army forces pose for picture as they head for Benghazi to reinforce troops advancing to Tripoli, Libya (File photo: Reuters)

Libyan politicians and human rights activists expressed concern after the Ministry of Interior at the Government of National Accord (GNA) granted passports to Aouzou citizens, Chad, saying they have Libyan identity numbers.

The Ministry’s recent move is interpreted as the government's desire to use those citizens as militants in the battle against the Libyan National Army (LNA) led by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar on the southern outskirts of Tripoli.

Earlier, Office Director of Interior Minister, Brigadier General Ahmed El-Sadek, addressed heads of the Passports, Nationality and Foreigners Affairs, and the Civil Status Department, on the right of Aouzou citizens who hold national identity numbers to obtain Libyan passports.

Sadek claimed that having the national ID is a prerequisite for obtaining documents and documents indicating citizenship. It is also a condition to obtain any public services requested by citizens born in Aouzou, or other areas within the country or abroad.

Some argued that the procedures adopted by the legal advisor of the Interior Minister “have no legal basis and are invalid.”

Asharq Al-Awsat tried to contact the Interior Ministry for clarification, but there was no response.

Director of the National Human Rights Commission in Libya, Ahmed Abdel Hakim Hamza wondered whether the decision concerns citizens born in Aouzou who left the sector after it was annexed to Chad and moved to Libyan territory, or all Aouzou-born citizens, including those currently living in it.

Hamza also questioned why the decision only required a national ID number to obtain a passport, without requiring Libyan citizenship.

The 114,000-square-kilometer Aouzou region caused a long-running dispute between Libya and Chad until the International Court of Justice ruled that Chad had a majority vote in the region.

In the early 1970s, Libya had full control and administration of the territory to the extent it issued identification cards to residents of the border, and administratively attached it to Murzuq, south of the country.

Secretary-General of the Arab Organization for Human Rights in Libya, Abdel-Moneim al-Hur described the decision issued by GNA as “dangerous” and told Asharq Al-Awsat it was referred to Organization’s legal adviser for consideration.

Sabha MP Ali al-Saidi Qaidi rejected the decision of Interior Minister Fathi Pasha Agha to issue passports to some citizens of the Chadian Aouzou region.

He pointed out that Libya ceded the territory to Chad following the ruling of the International Court of Justice on February 1994.

Website of al-Marsad newspaper quoted al-Qaidi as saying that this is a manipulation of national security, noting they are Chadian mercenaries to be used by the GNA in its war against LNA.

Qaidi defended his point of view saying GNA has lost a number of fighters and is now trying to bring in more mercenaries by granting them national Ids, but the “Libyan army will put an end to this mockery within the coming days.”



RSF Shelling On Camp Kills 8 in Sudan's Darfur, Say Rescuers

A view of a street in the city of Omdurman damaged in the year-long civil war in Sudan, April 7, 2024. REUTERS/El Tayeb Siddig
A view of a street in the city of Omdurman damaged in the year-long civil war in Sudan, April 7, 2024. REUTERS/El Tayeb Siddig
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RSF Shelling On Camp Kills 8 in Sudan's Darfur, Say Rescuers

A view of a street in the city of Omdurman damaged in the year-long civil war in Sudan, April 7, 2024. REUTERS/El Tayeb Siddig
A view of a street in the city of Omdurman damaged in the year-long civil war in Sudan, April 7, 2024. REUTERS/El Tayeb Siddig

Rapid Support Forces (RSF) shelled a displacement camp in Sudan's Darfur region on Thursday, killing eight civilians and injuring others, a local rescue group said.

The bombardment hit Abu Shouk camp, which hosts tens of thousands of displaced people on the outskirts of El Fasher, the besieged capital of North Darfur.

El-Fasher remains the last major stronghold in Sudan's western Darfur region not under the control of the RSF, who have been at war with the regular army since April 2023, AFP reported.

"The Abu Shouk camp witnessed heavy artillery bombardment by the RSF... killing eight people," the camp's Emergency Response Room said in a statement.

In recent weeks, El-Fasher, which has been under RSF siege since last year, has been locked in intense fighting between warring sides in a region also gripped by famine.

Thursday's offensive comes just days after a series of attacks by the RSF targeted another battleground region of Sudan.

More than 450 people, including 35 children, were killed in several villages of North Kordofan, southwest of the capital Khartoum, according to a statement released this week by the UN's children agency.

"No child should ever experience such horrors," said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell. "Violence against children is unconscionable and must end now."

On Sunday, the RSF claimed to have killed more than 470 army personnel near the town of El-Obeid, also in North Kordofan, in a statement posted to its Telegram channel.

Independent verification of casualties in Sudan remains difficult due to restricted access to its conflict zones.

Now in its third year, the conflict has killed tens of thousands and forced millions to flee, creating what the United Nations describes as the world's largest displacement crisis.

In December last year, famine was officially declared in three displacement camps near El-Fasher, namely Zamzam, Abu Shouk and Al-Salam, according to the UN.

Since the Sudanese army regained control of the capital Khartoum in March, the RSF has shifted its operations westward, focusing on Darfur and Kordofan in a bid to consolidate territorial gains.

In April, RSF fighters seized the Zamzam displacement camp, located near Abu Shouk.

The assault forced nearly 400,000 people to flee, according to UN figures, effectively emptying one of the country's largest camps for the displaced.

Sudanese analyst Mohaned el-Nour told AFP the RSF aims to redefine its role in the conflict.

"Their goal is no longer to be seen as a militia, but as an alternative government in western Sudan, undermining the legitimacy of the authorities in Port Sudan."

He added that the recent surge in violence in North Kordofan was likely intended to divert the army's attention from El Fasher, where the military is trying "at all costs" to maintain.