Red Cross earmarks $60m aid for Libya due to conflict escalation – Director
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) plans to allocate at least $60 million of its budget for humanitarian aid in Libya in 2020, but the sum could go up depending on how much the situation there worsens, an official said.
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ICRC Director of Operations Dominik Stillhart made this known in an interview with Sputnik.
According to the Red Cross operations chief, Libya is one of the organization’s biggest operations in Africa, with the humanitarian distress extending to both the migrant and indigenous populations due to a prolonged armed conflict between two rival governments.
“And again this year we have seen a very significant intensification of the conflict with this offensive that has taken place in the south and then later on in Tripoli, with tens of thousands of people that were displaced.
“And we have stepped up our response to support and assist the displaced people,” Stillhart said.
He went on to say that the Red Cross’ efforts in Libya were especially focused on improving the health system and living conditions in detention facilities.
“We have increased our responsibility to about 60 or 65 million U.S. dollars in 2019 and we plan to stay more or less at the same level in 2020.
“And of course, depending on whether the situation becomes even worse in humanitarian terms we will then decide to either do a budget extension or to stay at more or less the same level,” Stillhart added.
Since the political crisis in 2011, Libya has become a de facto duopoly split between the Libyan National Army (LNA) under Khalifa Haftar, which controls the east, and the internationally-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) of Fayez Sarraj in the west.
Against the backdrop of their armed confrontations near the capital of Tripoli, the unattended south of the country has turned into a nesting ground for runaway terrorists from Syria and Iraq.
The conflict escalated in April after Haftar launched a major offensive on GNA-held Tripoli, leaving hundreds of Libyans killed and the city almost completely destroyed.Last week, Haftar announced the start of the final offensive on Tripoli, potentially to aggravate Libya’s pressing humanitarian distress.
