The International Organization for Migration warned on Monday of the risk of the collapse of the system that enables it and more than a hundred non-governmental organizations to deliver humanitarian aid to Sudan “within weeks,” due to a lack of sufficient funding.
“Without new funding, we will not be able to deliver aid to where it is needed most,” the organization’s Director-General, Amy Pope, said in a statement.
The ongoing war between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces since April 2023 has claimed the lives of more than 200,000 people, according to estimates by humanitarian workers, and has also caused the two largest hunger and displacement crises in the world.
With the start of the new school year in Egypt, a campaign was launched to detect “drug users” among bus drivers transporting school students, after a video was circulated on social media showing a bus driver in a state of imbalance. He was arrested and it was found that he had criminal information and did not have a driver’s license. After that, the Drug Abuse Detection Unit at the Fund for Combating and Treating Addiction and Abuse, in coordination with the Ministry of Interior, went to the vicinity of the school in the 6th of October area, to inspect the drivers who were transporting school students.
The Fund confirmed in a statement on Monday that an analysis had been conducted to detect drug use for a group of drivers in coordination with the Ministry of Interior. The Anti-Addiction Fund called on families and guardians of students to report if school bus drivers are suspected of using narcotic substances.
After conducting tests on 9 drivers in the vicinity of the school, as well as those who transport students, the samples were found to be negative. It was also found that the school does not employ drivers, and that these buses are owned by people who are contracted by parents to transport their children to school. The Fund for Combating and Treating Addiction and Abuse stressed the continued intensification of campaigns for early detection of drug abuse among school bus drivers throughout the study period, and the expansion of the implementation of campaigns to include various governorates, in order to conduct drug detection tests for drivers inside school headquarters. Whoever is found to be using drugs will be referred to the Public Prosecution to take the necessary legal measures. If it is proven that he works at school, coordination will be made with the Ministry of Education to dismiss him from work. This comes in parallel with the continued intensification of inspection campaigns on highways. According to the fund’s statement.
Professor of Educational Psychology at Ain Shams University, Dr. Tamer Shawqi, believes that “conducting drug abuse tests for student bus drivers is extremely important and dangerous, as they are not only responsible for themselves or their families, but for the lives of dozens of children, and therefore proactive measures must be taken to detect drivers and exclude those who are proven to be abusers from work.”
He added to Asharq Al-Awsat, “This matter must be followed up on two levels. The first level concerns drivers belonging to private and international schools, as the Ministry of Education must oblige these schools to conduct periodic analyzes of drivers, for example, every 3 months, in central laboratories, not private ones.”
He continued: “As for the second category, they are microbus or bus drivers who are subcontracted by families to transport their children. This is an extremely dangerous matter, because it is not subject to the oversight of government agencies. But what we can do is tighten control over the passenger transportation companies from which buses are rented, and force drivers to conduct drug tests in these companies, with the necessity of having police patrols to inspect these drivers on a regular basis.”
The Anti-Addiction Fund statement confirmed that surprise campaigns will be launched immediately and secretly to detect drivers, and whoever is found to be using narcotic substances will take the necessary legal measures and refer him to the Public Prosecution on charges of driving under the influence of drugs. The statement mentioned the most prominent signs that may indicate that a driver is using narcotic substances, which are “eye redness, dark circles under the eyes, lack of interest in appearance, speaking nervously or exaggeratedly slowly, as well as lack of balance, driving too fast or too slowly, and not estimating distances.”
Educational expert, Dr. Ahmed Abdel Hamid, stressed that “confronting drug abuse among school drivers requires an integrated system involving the concerned authorities, school administrations, and parents, so that detection campaigns are not only linked to the beginning of the school year, but rather are carried out on a regular and sustainable basis,” adding to Asharq Al-Awsat: “Schools can contribute to prevention by selecting drivers according to precise standards, following up on their professional status, and ensuring that they undergo the necessary examinations, in addition to training them on safe driving and dealing with... “Children.”
He concluded by saying: “Detection campaigns rely on conducting tests on drivers to detect narcotic substances, which allows for early intervention before drug abuse causes a disaster on the road. The deterrent measures also represent a clear message that children’s safety is not a place for complacency, and that driving a school bus under the influence of drugs represents a direct danger to the lives of a large number of students.”
The Minister of Labor and Rehabilitation in the interim “National Unity” government in western Libya, Ali Al-Abed, confirmed that steps had been taken, which he described as “important” to qualify and integrate members of armed groups into civilian jobs, denying at the same time the existence of any plans to settle irregular immigrants or Palestinians.
Al-Abed told Asharq Al-Awsat, on the sidelines of his participation in the fifty-second session of the Arab Labor Conference in Cairo, that the project to rehabilitate and integrate armed elements “is not a spur of the moment,” as it began with the establishment of the Veterans Affairs Authority in late 2011 “with the aim of caring for and rehabilitating revolutionaries and former combatants, and integrating them into society. It then developed into the Libyan Development and Reintegration Program, before changing during the era of the National Unity Government to become the National Rehabilitation and Reintegration Project.”
But he acknowledged that the project “faces the biggest challenge, which is the need for a unified state and the unification of Libyan institutions.”
Al-Abed believes that dealing with militants after 2011 took an inappropriate path, saying: “The integration of armed groups after 2011 was done in the wrong way, by integrating them and legalizing their status in the Ministries of Defense and Interior only, even though among them were engineers, doctors, farmers, and merchants, and they had to be rehabilitated and integrated into civilian life.”
Since the fall of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's regime in 2011, Libya has been experiencing security turmoil in light of a division between two governments, east and west, and the continued presence of armed formations, especially in the west of the country, in addition to the spread of large quantities of weapons outside the control of state institutions.
Psychological rehabilitation
The Minister of Labor and Rehabilitation in the “Unity” government indicated that delegations affiliated with his ministry were informed of the experiences of countries that went through civil wars, armed groups, and the chaos of the spread of weapons, such as Colombia, Rwanda, and Kosovo, pointing out that the Rwanda experience was one of the experiences that most attracted the attention of the Libyan side.
He said: “We found Rwanda’s experience distinctive, and it made great strides in the way of integration, unlike other experiences, because it was based on psychological rehabilitation by isolating the militants in camps, and working to rehabilitate them psychologically, and they also relied on religious motives.”
Al-Abed described the project as “very important,” and even went on to describe it as “one of the greatest projects in Libya,” attributing its success to the state’s ability to monopolize weapons and create the necessary conditions for holding elections.
He said: “Without this project, elections will not be held in Libya. It is based on all weapons being under the legitimacy of the state, and the rehabilitation and integration of militants into aspects of civil life, and it is included in all aspects of life, whether education or health.”
He explained that the program had proven a degree of success with some militants, saying: “We carried out rehabilitation courses, and there are some militants who have become industrial and commercial active. We have already started the program, but it requires psychological sessions and psychiatrists to psychologically rehabilitate the militants.” He added that the project also aimed to rehabilitate the families of former militants.
The Libyan Minister of Labor acknowledged that the project was disrupted at some stages as a result of the security tensions that the country experienced, but he confirmed that it had achieved “tangible successful indicators and results,” noting that the administration was working “calmly, far from political wrangling.”
He stressed that the bet for successive governments “must be on disarmament, rehabilitation and integration of militants, and not the opposite.”
Allegations of “settlement”
Al-Abed’s work intersects with the issue of foreign workers and the repercussions of irregular migration. Controversy has escalated around him locally, and demonstrations took place last June, amid allegations of a government intention to “settle immigrants” in Libya.
However, Al-Abed reiterated his government’s denial of “the existence of any plans to settle irregular migrants,” and said that talking about that is “untrue and unthinkable,” stressing that the laws and legislation in Libya “prohibit the resettlement of migrants, and it is also constitutionally prohibited.”
He pointed out that Libya “is not a member of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, nor is it a member of the 1951 Refugee Convention,” adding that it is “a transit country for migrants, whether they are working legally in the country, or are in an irregular immigration situation.”
He also denied rumors about plans to resettle Palestinians, saying: “The talk circulated by activists about plans to resettle Palestinians is baseless, and Prime Minister Abdel Hamid Dabaiba has previously denied it.” He added: “These allegations are being promoted on social media pages without real evidence, and with forged papers that may contain artificial intelligence methods.”
Foreign workers
Regarding the regulation of foreign workers, he said: “There is no reliable database for the numbers of irregular immigrants due to the circumstances of the political division that the country is going through,” referring to the “Wafed” platform, which he said is a solution to the crisis, where the worker or employer registers data and obtains a work permit, and an electronic card is also scheduled to be launched.
Al-Abed concluded by confirming that the government is continuing to implement the “sponsor” system through labor services companies to restrict expatriate workers, rejecting the criticism directed at it.
He said: “The sponsor is the employer, and he will guarantee the worker’s rights to salary and health insurance before the official authorities, and contribute to controlling and counting the number of workers, and reducing irregular migration.”
