By Libya Herald reporters.
Tunis, 1 April 2017:
Japan is giving some $679,000 to support Libyan families who have fled their homes because of conflict.
There are some 313,000 internally displaced people (IDP) according to figures produced by the UN’s International Organisation for Migration (IOM). It has appealed for special help for the 79,000 people of Sirte as they return after their town was badly damaged in last year’s fighting to oust terrorists of the so-called Islamic State. Tawergha was emptied of its 30,000 inhabitants after the civil war and they now live largely in camps in Benghazi and Tripoli.
“Last year, Japan committed $2.8 billion between 2016 and 2018 to assist refugees and migrants around the world,” said Tsuneki Matsuda, the chargé at Japan’s Libyan embassy, currently relocated to Cairo. “We sincerely hope that our assistance will help alleviate the hardship IDPs in Libya are facing now.”
The funding is sufficient to help 5,000 IDPS, some 1,200 families, survive day-to-day for a year. The IOM said that the aid, largely material, includes mattresses, blankets, clothes, hygiene kits. Officials visit the families to work out the help needed.
Said Matsuda: “Japan will continue to play an important role to bring solutions to the refugee and migrant issues in Libya by collaborating closely with the international community.”
A month ago, Japan gave another $700,000 to the UN World Food Programme to provide rations to help feed 80,000 people in the country for a month.
