Attachments
Highlights
This week, UNHCR supported 244 refugees and asylum-seekers with solutions. On 30 May, UNHCR evacuated 149 refugees from the Gathering and Departure Facility (GDF) in Tripoli to Rome, Italy. The evacuation took place from the airport in Misrata (210 km east of Tripoli) as the security situation in Tripoli remains volatile. All refugees had previously been detained in Libyan detention centres and transferred by UNHCR to the GDF. After this evacuation, the GDF hosts 497 refugees and asylum-seekers. During the week, another 95 refugees departed to the Emergency Transit Centre (ETC) in Romania. This departure was conducted with the support of IOM.
So far in 2019, UNHCR has helped 1,166 refugees to find durable solutions out of Libya, including 291 individuals under resettlement programme and 875 through evacuations to Niger (580 individuals) and Italy (295 individuals). Since November 2017, UNHCR evacuated 3,856 refugees and asylum-seekers out of Libya.
Population movements
Since the onset of the crisis, over 90,000 individuals have been displaced (IDPs) due to the conflict taking place in and around Tripoli. The majority of IDPs are living in urban areas in and around Tripoli, cities along the coast and the Nafusa Mountains. Local authorities and first responders opened some 47 collective shelters that are now hosting some 4,000 IDPs. This week, UNHCR and LibAid planned new assessments for IDPs in Zwara and Sabratha. Since the onset of the crisis, UNHCR and LibAid distributed core-relief items (CRIs) to over 9,590 IDPs.
As of 31 May, 2,350 refugees and migrants have been rescued/intercepted at sea by the Libyan Coast Guard in 2019. So far this month, 1,224 refugees and migrants were disembarked in Libya. They were mainly from Sudan (42%), Bangladesh (9%), Ivory Coast (6%), Chad (4%) and Somalia (4%). On 28 May, 129 refugees and migrants disembarked at the Tripoli Naval Base. UNHCR and the International Medical Corps (IMC) were present and provided medical assistance and CRIs to those disembarked before they were transferred to a detention centre by the authorities. Recent departures took place from areas near Zwara (110 km west of Tripoli).
UNHCR response
UNHCR continues to register refugees and asylum-seekers in Tripoli. This week, UNHCR registered 115 individuals at its registration centre in Serraj. In 2019, over 4,280 individuals were registered in Libya, including 2,041 in detention centres.
Support to urban refugees and asylum-seekers continued. UNHCR, IMC and CESVI assisted over 710 refugees and asylum-seekers at the two Community Day Centres. So far in 2019, UNHCR distributed cash-based interventions to over 420 refugee families and supported and refugees and asylum-seekers with over 4,500 medical consultations.