Libyan authorities suspend 10 international aid groups providing crucial assistance to migrants
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.
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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