By Libya Herald staff.
Tripoli, 22 April 2015:
The Libyan Red Crescent has reported . . .[restrict]that well over half a million Libyans are now displaced because of ongoing fighting and instability within the country. It put the figure at 557,212 individuals, representing 103,821 families.
According to a report issued by it, some 126,000 people have been displaced from Tripoli, the largest number of cities and towns in Libya. Benghazi comes a close second with some 109,000 displaced.
The number of internally displaced in Libya (as opposed to those in Libya from other countries) has jumped by nearly 70,000 since the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) released a report in the middle of December stating that there were 431,258 registered internally displaced people.
The figure does not include the several hundred thousand Libyans now outside the country, notably in Tunisia and Egypt.
In addition to displaced Libyans, the UNHCR also reported in December an estimated 37,000 refugees and asylum seekers of other nationalities inside Libya, including Eritreans, Iraqis, Palestinians, Somalis, Sudanese and Syrians. This figure is, however, based on those who have registered as refugees and is believed to be a massive underestimation.
To help deal with the problem, the UNHCR initiated in July 2014 the Libya Protection Working Group (PWG) for UN agencies and NGOs working temporarily in Tunis. The PWG aims to coordinate protection activities and responses to the humanitarian needs inside Libya.
Specifically, the group is working to increase registration and refugee processing activities and promote national asylum legislation. [/restrict]
