(Author: Libyan Gazette Editorial Staff)
A meeting to discuss the Libyan crisis was announced on Monday by the African Union (AU) for the Union’s High-Level Committee on Libya. Algeria, Congo, Egypt, Mauritania, Niger, South Africa and Uganda are all members of the AU’s High-Level Committee.
The meeting is scheduled to take place on Tuesday at 4pm in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Diplomats will gather to asses current events in Libya and review regional and international support to the country. Idriss Déby Itno, the President of Chad, will be chairing the meeting.
This comes as scores of refugees from various African countries drowned in the Mediterranean Sea soon after they departed Libya for Europe.
The refugee crisis in the Mediterranean region significantly worsened after the Libyan uprising in 2011 that brought down the Gaddafi regime. Around 4,220 refugees died on their way to Europe so far this year, the highest number on record, said the UN International Organization for Migration (IOM).
The EU has set-up a training program for the Libyan Coast Guard as an attempt to stop the mass migration of mostly African refugees to Europe. On Monday, the Libyan Coast Guard rescued 115 refugees, who were later transferred to to the department responsible for illegal immigration in Libya’s interior ministry.
Currently in Libya there are two main political powers, the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) based in Tripoli and the House of Representatives (HoR) based in Tobruk. The HoR has previously refused to give the GNA its support and without it the GNA will face challenges in its governance of Libya.
The HoR will soon be voting on whether or not they support the new cabinet assembled by the GNA.