A number of Tunisian traders and workers are having difficulties entering Libyan territory to work, as Libyan authorities have been preventing them from doing so at the Ras Jedir border crossing on the Libyan side for the past two days, despite the fact that they have complied with all the legal procedures for departure and their safety, said Mustapha Abdelkebir, head of the Tunisian Observatory for Human Rights (OTDH).
The Observatory condemned the ban and the resumption of taxes on travellers by the Libyan authorities, calling for a review of these decisions, which it described as unilateral, and the need to insist on the implementation of joint Tunisian-Libyan agreements and the principle of reciprocity.
Abdelkebir called on the Tunisian authorities to take steps to find solutions to these problems and for the Joint Security Committees to meet urgently and intervene in favour of Tunisians travelling to Libya and to find urgent solutions for them and for all the problems of the crossing, including artific
ial overcrowding. He said that the rights of travellers, especially freedom of movement, should not be compromised.
He added that the number of people who have been stopped in the last two days exceeds dozens, despite the absence of any legal procedure to stop them on the grounds that they are undesirable.
According to a security source, the Libyan authorities have begun to implement new procedures without providing further clarifications.
Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse