Libya

Key developments on the African continent during the week of May 13th included prolonged incidents of political violence in Libya, Cameroon and CAR; cross-border operations from the DRC; and a number of protests and riots by students and among political party supporters.

May 22nd, 2018 ― Doha: Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS) has completed 95% of the medical support program in the city of Sirte, north of Libya, with $499,000 funding from Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD).

In response to the humanitarian aid appeal issued by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) for Sirte, QFFD and QRCS launched an intervention to support the city's almost failing medical sector, which serves a population of no less than 50,000 persons.

CONTEXT

GENEVA/TUNIS (22 May 2018) – Violence in Libya continues to have a devastating impact on health care in the country, with hospitals and other medical facilities bombed, shelled and looted; medical personnel targeted, attacked and even taken hostage or arbitrarily detained; and patients at times denied prompt life-saving care or attacked while getting treatment, according to a paper published today by the UN Human Rights Office and the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL).

Madam President,

Members of the Security Council,

Allow me to congratulate Poland for its Presidency of the Security Council this month. I am grateful for this opportunity to brief you on our work in Libya.

Madam President,

There are various ways to look at Libya, a country of some one million and half square kilometers. From one city to another, you will find reasons for concern as well as causes for hope. Though many cities and towns deserve to be cited, let me at least mention a few.

SECURITY COUNCIL 8263RD MEETING (AM)

SC/13347

Panel of Experts Expressed ‘Extreme Concern’ About Leak of Unpublished Interim Report to Media, Sanctions Committee Chair Says

Briefing the Security Council on Libya’s complex security and political situation today, the senior United Nations official in that country emphasized that beneath both its challenges and emerging bright spots lay the population’s urgent desire to leave nearly a decade of violence and instability behind.

Implementation of resolution 2357 (2017)

Report of the Secretary-General

I. Introduction

Key figures:

184,612 Libyans currently internally displaced (IDPs)

368,583 returned IDPs (returns registered in 2016 - March 2018)

52,031 registered refugees and asylumseekers in the State of Libya

10,616 persons arrived in Italy by sea in 2018

520 monitoring visits to detention centres so far in 2018

1,273 asylum-seekers and refugees released from detention so far in 2018 (including for evacuations)

1,609 vulnerable refugees and asylumseekers evacuated since November 2017

Funding USD 85 M required for 2018

ACTED is helping the most vulnerable conflict-affected families in Benghazi, Tripoli, and Sebha to fullfil their life-saving needs in a dignified manner.

Since the onset of the 2011 conflict, Libya has experienced massive population displacements that plunged the country into a protracted humanitarian crisis. Despite recent trends highlight a decrease in displacement, the situation for many is worsening, with over 1.1 million in need of assistance (2018 Humanitarian Needs Overview).

Summary

• Since the latest escalation of armed conflict in Derna on 15 May, health sector sources report that at least six civilians have been killed and 14 injured, including one child.

• Some 300 to 500 families have reportedly been displaced from Al Fatayih area (east of Derna city), to Derna city as a result of the renewed conflict.

Two-thirds of Libyan Schools have limited drinking water

UNICEF together with the Ministry of Education and the Libyan National Centre for Disease Control Launch Assessment of Water, Quality, Sanitation and Hygiene in Libyan Schools

Illicit fuel markets are creating an organised crime threat that goes beyond the ‘migrant crisis’.

A surge in migrants and refugees intercepted at sea by the Libyan authorities has seen at least 2,600 people transferred, in the past two months alone, to squalid detention centres where they face torture and extortion, Amnesty International said today.

The global human rights organisation accuses European governments of complicity in these abuses by actively supporting the Libyan authorities in stopping sea crossings and sending people back to detention centres in Libya.

Interview with Christophe Biteau, MSF Head of mission in Libya – May 2018

Christophe Biteau, head of mission with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), has been working in Libya since September 2017. Based on MSF activities to assist migrants and refugees in Bani Walid region and in detention cenrtes located in Khoms and Misrata, he shares his analysis of the current situation.

Young Libyans Fuel Local Civil Society Groups and Peace Efforts

BY: Darine El Hage

Highlights

• With the lifting of the evacuation status from Libya on the 2 of February 2018, UNICEF is scaling up its presence of international staff in Tripoli and is expected to have a full team in Libya by end of May 2018;

As a result of armed clashes in Sebha, 80 households (approximately 400 individuals) have been displaced to private and public buildings in the center of the city, with a further 60 households (300 individuals) displaced to the Baladiya of Murzuq. The main reported needs of the displaced population in Sebha are drinking water, baby milk, diapers, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), food items, mattresses, blankets and cleaning materials. The reported needs in Murzuq are water, hygiene kits, baby milk, diapers, food, medical assistance, mattresses and blankets.

Conflict Parties in Derna Should Abide by Laws of War

(Beirut) – Forces under Gen. Khalifa Hiftar have started a land and air operation to wrest the eastern city of Derna from an alliance of militant armed groups, Human Rights Watch said today. All parties to the conflict are obligated to respect the laws of war and spare civilians and civilian infrastructure.

Summary

• On 11 May, clashes in Sebha city between members of the Tebu and Awlad Suleiman communities re-escalated after a temporary ceasefire had been negotiated. Heavy and indiscriminate weaponry is being used in populated areas.

• As a result of the clashes, there have been multiple casualties among fighters and civilians, with unconfirmed reports of at least three civilian deaths, including one young girl and a sixty-year-old man.