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.7 on the humanitarian situation in Libya and the neighbouring countries
14 Mar 2011 ... Update no 7 Humanitarian Situation in Libya and the Neighbouring Countries 14 March 2011 Highlights • Libya: The Special Envoy of the UN SG for Libya and the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Libya ...... -
Update No.8 on the humanitarian situation in Libya and the neighbouring countries
15 Mar 2011 ... Update no 8 Humanitarian Situation in Libya and the Neighbouring Countries 15 March 2011 Highlights ... to leave the no man’s land between Egypt and Libya. / UNHCR / F.Noy / March 2011 Population ...... -
Update No.9 on the humanitarian situation in Libya and the neighbouring countries
16 Mar 2011 ... Update no 9 Humanitarian Situation in Libya and the Neighbouring Countries 16 March 2011 Highlights ... 70,757 Nigeriens 3,081 Egyptians 1,635 Libyans 13,597* Others 50,229* Others 499 Libyans ...... -
Update No.13 on the humanitarian situation in Libya and the neighbouring countries
24 Mar 2011 ... Update no 13 Humanitarian Situation in Libya and the Neighbouring Countries 24 March 2011 Highlights • There continues to be a steady number of Libyans and Third Country Nationals arriving daily to ...... -
Update No.17 on the humanitarian situation in Libya and the neighbouring countries
7 Apr 2011 ... Update no 17 Humanitarian Situation in Libya and the Neighbouring Countries 7 April 2011 Population Movements By 6 April, a total of 460,359 persons crossed from Libya to neighbouring countries. There ...... -
Update No.25 on the humanitarian situation in Libya and the neighbouring countries
18 May 2011 ... 3 Update no 25 Humanitarian Situation in Libya and the Neighbouring Countries 18 May 2011 LIBYA Reports of fuel scarcity and high fuel prices continue in the west of Libya. Fuel scarcity has also ...... -
Update No.27 on the humanitarian situation in Libya and the neighbouring countries
3 Jun 2011 ... 3 Update no 27 Humanitarian Situation in Libya and the Neighbouring Countries 3 June 2011 LIBYA Following the Humanitarian Coordinator’s mission last week to Tripoli, six UN representatives from ...... -
Submission by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in the case of Hirsi and Others v. Italy
Mar 2011 ... conditions for reception and seeking asylum in Libya (part 3) and the extra- territorial scope of ... operations have been carried out in co-operation with and upon request of the Libyan Government. ...... -
Update No.28 on the humanitarian situation in Libya and the neighbouring countries
10 Jun 2011 ... 3 Update no 28 Humanitarian Situation in Libya and the Neighbouring Countries 10 June 2011 LIBYA UNHCR staff visited conflict zones south and east of the Libyan capital Tripoli last week and found ......