By Libya Herald staff.
London, 8 August 2014:
Fighting in Benghazi and Tripoli has forced the displacement of hundreds of family and . . .[restrict]is having “grave humanitarian consequences” the Libyan Red Crescent (LRC) has said.
The humanitarian organisation, one of the few still operating on the ground in the country, said that the ongoing fighting, which has killed 214 and left 900 wounded, could cause the total collapse of the health system.
At least two million people are at risk of acute food shortages as intense fighting blocks the provision of stocks and supplies which are located in areas affected by the conflict. Similarly, the movement of medical supplies is being obstructed by the clashes.
“If the crisis continues longer, the situation will become a big burden on us,” Omar Ajaudah, Secretary General of LRC, said. “We ask for support to strengthen our response to the humanitarian needs of the displaced. Despite these challenges, we are carrying on with our efforts,” he added.
In Benghazi this week, Red Crescent teams brought 57 bodies to Benghazi Medical Centre. In cooperation with the city authorities, it has been helping ready schools to shelter hundreds of displaced families. The needs of these families, its said, are acute with food and water of greatest concern. In Tripoli more than 700 displaced families are being supported by LRC.
The LRC has counitued into its eighth consecutive day responding to worsening humanitarian conditions at the Ras Jedir border crossing into Tunisia.
“More than 6,000 people are crossing the borders with Tunisia each day, with the majority being migrants, mostly Egyptians, who are stranded on the Libyan side. Our volunteers have been deployed and supported Libyan families and Egyptian migrants with food and water,” Taher Cheniti, the Secretary General of the Tunisian Red Crescent said.
Tunisian authorities have, at several points in the last week, imposed the temporary closure of the border, with the exception of humanitarian cases, due to security concerns. As a result the Red Crescent branches in Zuwara and Nalut have been on high alert, supporting the displaced families and monitoring the southern border crossing of Wazen Dhaiba in the Jabal Nefusa where another crisis could erupt.
In Zuwara, teams have evacuated some wounded civilians and provided more than 30,000 litres of water to the stranded migrants and their hosts on the border with Tunisia.
Ajaudah called all parties involved in the conflict to cooperate with LRC as it fulfils its humanitarian role.
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