The authorities suspend 10 international aid groups offering assistance to migrants

Cairo – Libyan authorities have ordered 10 international assistance organizations to suspend operations and close the country’s offices, accusing local law violation groups by providing assistance to African migrants.

The internal security agency said in a statement that humanitarian organizations violated the law by providing various forms of assistance that would help reinstall African migrants in the country.

“We affirm that the project to adjust illegal immigrants of African nationalities in the country represents a hostile activity targeting Libyan demography,” ISA said on Wednesday.

Libya plunged into chaos after an uprising supported by NATO overthrows and killed the longtime dictator Moammar Gaddafi in 2011. The country has separated, with rival administrations to the east and west supported by rowed militias and foreign governments.

Libya, which shares borders with six nations and has a long coastline along the Mediterranean, is a main transit point for migrants fleeing war and poverty in Africa and the Middle East to seek a better life in Europe. The international organization for migrations estimates that around 787,000 migrants and refugees of various nationalities live in Libya in 2024.

The list of aid groups announced by the agency includes doctors without borders, the Norwegian refugee council, the Danish refugee council, land of men, Care, Agdé, Inter SOS and the Italian organization CESVI. Many of these organizations provided an immediate crucial relief during the devastating floods in the country which killed thousands in 2023.

The ISA said that organizations were suspected of money laundering because they avoided transparency in the way financial transfers are made for their projects and how they can exchange foreign currencies for local currencies.

Salem Ghaith, ISA spokesperson, said at a press conference that a strict legal action will be taken against non-governmental organizations in addition to the closure of their offices. He said that they illegally supplied help from cash vouchers, clothes, food, accommodation and medical assistance, which helped pay the migrants initially on the way to Europe.

“Consequently, it is no longer necessary for them to risk crossing the seas and migrating to Europe, transforming Libya into a country of destination rather than in a transit,” said Ghaith.

MSF, the abbreviation of the French name of doctors without borders, is among the targeted organizations. He said in an update in February that migrants in Libya face violence and are often refused health care.

“They live in precarious conditions and are subject to a range of violence and abuse, inside and outside the country’s detention centers. Removed, subject to extortion and traffic practices, assaulted or sexually abused, their access to health care is seriously hampered at a time when they desperately need it, “said MSF update.

The Libyan government agency said the Norwegian refugee council had provided illegal migrants financial assistance, food supplies, cleaning equipment, clothing and medicines, unbeknownst or authorization of the Libyan authorities, violating the provisions of countries that deal with “state security crimes”.

Likewise, the agency alleges that Relief International has violated the law by providing medical services to illegal migrants, using government health workers without the approval of the Ministry of Health and using one of the organization’s warehouses to store medicine in a way that does not meet the legal standards of the state for medical storage.