Humanitarian crisis looms in southern Libya due to the war in Sudan

Koufra, Libya (PANA) - There are signs of a humanitarian crisis on the horizon in the towns of southern Libya as thousands of Sudanese flee the deadly war that has been raging in their country since April 2023.

According to Libyan media reports, thousands of Sudanese have arrived in the Libyan town of Kufra on the border between Libya and Sudan.

The local authorities have warned of the consequences of the situation due to the town's inability to support and accommodate these displaced people, particularly given that no government body or international humanitarian organisation has so far provided support to help the population cope with the situation.

The spokesperson for the municipality of Koufra, Abdullah Suleyman, stated that Sudanese refugees are beginning to "invade the town en masse".

He pointed out that their numbers are "steadily increasing", while neither the Tripoli-based government nor the government in eastern Libya have taken any steps to deal with the situation.

The municipality, with its limited resources, is unable to deal with the new situation, Suleyman added.

He pointed out that the refugees are living off the aid provided by the Libyan Red Crescent or the support initiatives taken by the local population.

Suleyman said that a Libyan citizen provides breakfast for more than 2,000 people every day while a village has also come to the aid of 1,000 people.

The refugees occupy abandoned houses and farms, said the municipal official, stressing that the exact number of refugees is not known because they entered the country without any administrative measures.

No diseases have been detected, despite the large number of refugees, said Mr Suleyman, indicating, however, that cholera is present in certain regions of Sudan and the continued arrival of refugees poses a threat to public health.

As the situation in Sudan deteriorates further, it is feared that more refugees will arrive in the southern regions of Libya.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, recently put the number of refugees in Sudan at 8 million.

Mr Suleyman warned that the southern regions of Libya, which are facing a shortage of fuel and services, are unable to meet the needs of the displaced, which require urgent intervention by the international organisations responsible for refugee issues.

-0- PANA AD/IN/JSG/BBA/MA 7Feb2024