- Title: Coronavirus narrows options for migrants buffeted by Libya’s war
- Date: 8th May 2020
- Summary: ZAWIYA, LIBYA (MAY 3, 2020) (VIDEO OBTAINED BY REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF DETENTION CENTRE FOR MIGRANTS VARIOUS OF MIGRANTS SLEEPING ON MATTRESSES ON FLOOR INSIDE DETENTION CENTRE MIGRANTS SLEEPING INSIDE MAKESHIFT TENTS IN DETENTION CENTRE MIGRANTS SLEEPING ON MATTRESSES ON FLOOR INSIDE DETENTION CENTRE MISRATA, LIBYA (MAY 2, 2020) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF MIGRANTS SITTING ON MAIN
- Embargoed: 22nd May 2020 13:23
- Keywords: Conflict Coronavirus Economy Health Libya Migrants Misrata Ramadan Tripoli UNHCR
- Location: TRIPOLI, MISRATA AND ZAWIYA, LIBYA
- City: TRIPOLI, MISRATA AND ZAWIYA, LIBYA
- Country: Libya
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace
- Reuters ID: LVA001CD2KZT3
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: The outbreak of coronavirus has impacted the lives of migrants in Libya as job opportunities have become scarce and refugee resettlement has been disrupted.
In videos obtained by Reuters, migrants can be seen sleeping on the floor and in makeshift tents in a detention centre for migrants in the Libyan city of Zawiya, close to Tripoli.
A charity worker Ali Sebsi said that migrants have been struggling with hunger.
"Given that they are reliant on daily wage labour, and given that life has practically stopped, and there was also a 24 hour curfew, they have lost a lot of work. They have lost a lot of their salaries," he added.
There have been no reports of the virus spreading among migrants in Libya but there are fears it could have a devastating impact if it takes hold.
Libya has an estimated 654,000 migrants - more than 48,000 of them registered asylum seekers or refugees - many of them living in cramped conditions with little access to healthcare. Restrictions on movement are driving them further into hardship.
UNHCR had been evacuating or resettling some of the most vulnerable refugees until airspace was shut in early April.
The agency, which had to close a transit centre in Tripoli in January due to interference by armed groups, has been handing out cash, food and hygiene kits. But payments have been hampered by a long-running liquidity crisis at Libya's banks, said UNHCR's Libya mission head, Jean-Paul Cavalieri.
Cavalieri worried that with the loss of livelihoods due to coronavirus, more will attempt dangerous sea crossings.
(Production: Ayman Sahely, Nadeen Ebrahim, Gabriela Boccaccio) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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