Libyan authorities suspend 10 international aid groups providing crucial
assistance to migrants
[April 05, 2025]
CAIRO (AP) — Libyan authorities ordered 10 international
aid organizations to suspend operations and close offices in the
country, accusing the groups of violating local laws by providing aid to
African migrants.
The Internal Security Agency said in a statement that the humanitarian
organizations are violating the law by providing various forms of
assistance that would help resettle African migrants in the country.
“We affirm that the project of settling illegal immigrants of African
nationalities within the country represents a hostile activity targeting
the Libyan demographics,” the ISA said Wednesday.
Libya plunged into chaos after a NATO-backed uprising toppled and killed
longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011. The country split, with rival
administrations in the east and west backed by rogue militias and
foreign governments.
Libya, which shares borders with six nations and has a long coastline
along the Mediterranean, is a main transit point for migrants fleeing
war and poverty in Africa and the Middle East to seek better lives in
Europe. The International Organization for Migration estimates around
787,000 migrants and refugees from various nationalities live in Libya
as of 2024.
The list of aid groups the agency announced includes Doctors Without
Borders, Norwegian Refugee Council, Danish Refugee Council, Terre des
Hommes, Care, Acted, Inter SOS and the Italian organization Cesvi. Many
of those organizations provided crucial immediate relief during the
devastating floods in the country that killed thousands in 2023.
The ISA said the organizations were suspected of money laundering
because they avoided transparency in how financial transfers are made
for their projects and how they can exchange foreign currency for local
currency.
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Salem Ghaith, ISA spokesperson, said during a news conference that
strict legal action will be taken against the non-governmental
organizations in addition to the closure of their offices. He said
they illegally provided aid ranging from cash vouchers, clothing,
food, housing and medical assistance, which helped settle migrants
initially en route to Europe.
“As a result, there is no longer a need for them to risk crossing
the seas and migrating to Europe, turning Libya into a destination
country rather than a transit one,” said Ghaith.
MSF, the abbreviation for the French name of Doctors Without
Borders, is among the organizations targeted. It said in an update
in February that migrants in Libya face violence and are often
denied health care.
“They live in precarious conditions and are subjected to a range of
violence and abuse, both inside and outside the country’s detention
centers. Abducted, subjected to extortion and trafficking practices,
assaulted or sexually abused, their access to healthcare is severely
hampered at a time when they desperately need it,” read MSF’s
update.
The Libyan government agency said the Norwegian Refugee Council
provided illegal migrants with financial aid, food supplies,
cleaning materials, clothing and medicine, without the knowledge or
permission of Libyan authorities, violating country provisions that
address “state security crimes.”
Similarly, the agency alleges that Relief International violated
the law by providing medical services to illegal migrants, employing
government health workers without the health ministry’s approval,
and using one of the organization’s warehouses to store medicine in
a manner that fails to meet the state’s legal standards for medical
storage.
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