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USAID/BHA Libya Assistance Overview, April 2023

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CONTEXT

  • Libya has experienced widespread armed conflict, civil unrest, and political instability since 2011. The humanitarian situation in the country has improved since the October 2020 ceasefire agreement. However, Libya’s population continues to suffer the effects of political and economic instability and ongoing violence, including intense fighting in Tripoli during the summer of 2022. An estimated 329,000 people in Libya require humanitarian assistance in 2023, a 59 percent decrease from 2022, according to the 2023 Libya Humanitarian Overview.

  • Libya remains a major transit country for refugees and migrants from sub-Saharan Africa, with more than 694,000 migrants registered in the country as of December 2022, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Migrants in Libya are highly vulnerable to protection risks, including arbitrary detention, forced labor, restricted freedom of movement, and sexual violence, as well as limited access to housing and essential services, according to the UN.

  • As of August 2022, nearly 135,000 people across the country were displaced due to conflict, while more than 695,000 previously displaced Libyans had returned to their areas of origin, IOM reports. Meanwhile, some internally displaced persons (IDPs) are unable to return to their areas of origin due to housing and infrastructure damage, a lack of basic services, or security concerns. IDPs and returning populations in Libya require ongoing humanitarian assistance, including health care, protection, and shelter support.

  • Humanitarian organizations in Libya continue to face bureaucratic and administrative barriers to their operations, including challenges in renewing international staff visas and difficulties accessing the Libyan financial system, which prevent them from making international financial transfers, opening local bank accounts, and withdrawing cash, according to the UN. These constraints have delayed the delivery of critical assistance to vulnerable populations across the country, according to relief actors.

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