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UNHCR Flash Update Libya (9 - 15 November 2018) [EN/AR]

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Libya
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UNHCR
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Highlights

On 12 November, UNHCR evacuated 262 individuals (139 men, 42 women and 81 children) to its Emergency Transit Mechanism in Niger, in the largest evacuation so far this year. The group included individuals held in detention facilities in and around Tripoli (Zintan, Tajoura, Trik Al Sikka, Al Sabaa, Abu-Salim, Qaser Ben Ghasher) and individuals who were living in the urban community. With this departure, UNHCR has evacuated 2,344 individuals out of Libya (1,937 to Niger, 312 to Italy and 95 to Romania).

As of 14 November 2018, 12 states have committed a total of 3,886 resettlement places for the Libya-Niger situation. Out of these pledges, 1,090 are being used for resettlement processing directly out of Libya, while 2,796 places are allocated to evacuees from Libya and refugees registered in Niger. Since 1 September 2017, 980 individuals have been submitted for resettlement directly from Libya, of whom 114 individuals have already departed the country. UNHCR continues to advocate for additional resettlement spaces and other legal pathways to be made available for persons of concern in Libya.

UNHCR Response

UNHCR continues to support internally displaced persons (IDPs) and IDP returnees in Libya. On 14 November, UNHCR and UN partners visited Tawergha (293 km east of Tripoli). UNHCR met with the local authorities and returnee families to assess their needs. UNHCR also visited the Al-Sarraj IDP settlement in Tripoli where 40 families are living. In Benghazi, UNHCR and its partner LibAid distributed winter assistance to 2,270 IDPs.

As of 14 November, the Libyan Coast Guard (LCG) has rescued/intercepted 14,595 refugees and migrants (10,184 men, 2,147 women and 1,408 children) at sea. On 10 November, a commercial vessel reached the port of Misrata (187 km east of Tripoli) carrying 95 refugees and migrants who refused to disembark the boat. The individuals on board comprise of Ethiopian, Eritrean, South Sudanese, Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Somali nationals. UNHCR is closely following-up on the situation of the 14 individuals who have already disembarked and ensuring the necessary assistance is provided and screening is conducted for solutions. Since the onset, UNHCR has advocated for a peaceful resolution of the situation and provided food, water and core relief items (CRIs) to alleviate the suffering of individuals onboard the vessel.

An estimated 5,400 refugees and migrants are presently held in detention centres in Libya, of whom 3,900 are of concern to UNHCR. Over the past month, UNHCR has registered 2,629 persons of concern in detention centres in and around Tripoli. So far in 2018, UNHCR conducted 1,139 visits to detention centres and distributed CRIs to 19,348 individuals. Through its partner International Medical Corps (IMC), UNHCR continues to provide medical assistance in detention centres in Libya. So far in 2018, IMC provided 20,070 primary health care consultations in detention centres and 237 medical referrals to public hospitals. In detention centres in the East, UNHCR’s partners have so far provided 1,058 primary health care consultations and distributed CRIs to 725 individuals.