Fresh fighting in the New Year triggers displacement in Libya
The displacement has been centred around Benghazi, Derna, and near the Gulf of Sidra in Ben Jawad and Ras Lanuf. Some 400,000 people are displaced across Libya.
GENEVA, January 15 (UNHCR) - The UN refugee agency on Friday reported that stepped up fighting in Benghazi and other towns and cities in eastern Libya since the start of the year has sparked fresh displacement.
The displacement has been centred around Benghazi, Derna, and near the Gulf of Sidra in Ben Jawad and Ras Lanuf. Many people have had to flee for a fourth or fifth time, making numbers hard to estimate, but in Benghazi alone the local council is reporting that around 90,000 people are unable to return home.
UNHCR estimates that the fresh displacement brings the number of internally displaced people across Libya to about 400,000. In addition, Libya is host to nearly 37,000 refugees and asylum-seekers of different nationalities whose humanitarian conditions are increasingly precarious.
Near the national capital Tripoli in the west, NGOs and the local council estimate more than 83,200 people are living in settlements, schools and abandoned buildings. Many are unable to access health care or education for their children. A significant number have limited ability to access cash for food.
Most have been displaced for three to six months with increasing numbers being hosted in public facilities such as schools. As their cash savings dwindle they are unable to pay for housing rental. The current winter months are especially tough as temperatures in Tripoli, Benghazi and southern towns are below 10 degrees Celsius.
In south-west Libya, internally displaced people from the town of Awbari are facing difficulties in their daily lives as services have been severely disrupted by fighting between rival tribal groups. The current fighting has meant that schools, hospitals and markets remain completely inaccessible.
Shortages of fuel, electricity, water and food are being reported by local crisis committees and NGOs who say some 18,500 people from Awbari are currently displaced in six towns: Sabha, Wadi Shati, Jufra, Ghat, Murzuq and Lewenat.
In the past seven months, UNHCR has distributed aid item to almost 28,000 people in Tripoli and other western cities, including to members of the Tawerghan community displaced since 2011. On January 5, in partnership with the Tomazeen NGO in Libya, UNHCR delivered sleeping mats, plastic sheets and kitchen sets to 150 displaced families in the southern towns of Ghat, Lawenat and Tahala.
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Update No.23 on the humanitarian situation in Libya and the neighbouring countries
3 May 2011 ... no 23 Humanitarian Situation in Libya and the Neighbouring Countries 03 May 2011 Population Movements By 02 May, a total of 686,422 people had crossed from Libya into neighbouring countries, ...... -
UNHCR Global Report 2012 - Libya
1 Jun 2013 ... | UNHCR Global Report 2012 • Libya • 1 | Partners | Overview | Operational highlights ... few of those who were internally displaced in Libya were able to return to their areas of origin ...... -
Update No.21 on the humanitarian situation in Libya and the neighbouring countries
26 Apr 2011 ... Update no 21 Humanitarian Situation in Libya and the Neighbouring Countries 26 April 2011 Population Movements By 25 April, a total of 615,939 people had crossed from Libya into neighbouring ...... -
UNHCR Country Operations Plan 2003 - Libya
1 Sep 2002 ... 1 UNHCR 2003 Country Operations Plan Executive Summary Libya Context and Beneficiary Populations Although Libya is not a signatory to the 1951 Convention and its 1967 Protocol, it has ratified the ...... -
UNHCR Country Operations Plan 2005 - Libya
1 Sep 2004 ... COUNTRY OPERATIONS PLAN Executive Committee Summary Country: Libya Planning Year: 2005 2005 Country Operation Plan: Libya Part I: Executive Committee Summary (a) Context and Beneficiary Population ...... -
Hundreds return to Libya in desperate bid to reach Europe by boat
17 May 2011 ... Hundreds of people who had fled Libya for Tunisia and Egypt in recent weeks, have crossed back into Libya with the intention of boarding boats to reach Europe. Among them are refugees, including ...... -
Increased displacement in eastern Libya
25 Mar 2011 ... UNHCR is hearing consistent reports from new arrivals and a number of partners in eastern Libya of ... of Ajdabiyya for over two weeks, while the Libyan Red Crescent has told us that some 5,000 ...... -
Update No.10 on the humanitarian situation in Libya and the neighbouring countries
17 Mar 2011 ... Update no 10 Humanitarian Situation in Libya and the Neighbouring Countries 17 March 2011 ... over and above existing quotas, for non-Libyan refugees (primarily Eritrean, Sudanese and ...... -
Update No.12 on the humanitarian situation in Libya and the neighbouring countries
22 Mar 2011 ... Update no 12 Humanitarian Situation in Libya and the Neighbouring Countries 22 March 2011 ... Libya’s command-and- control facilities, air defense sites as well as some ground forces in Libya. ......