Libya

A Month in Focus - February 2012

06 February 2012

Syria, Libya, Papua New Guinea, Pakistan, Swaziland

Syria – Medicine as a weapon of persecution Libya – Detainees tortured Papua New Guinea – Back to Bougainville Pakistan – MSF within reach of the tribal zone Swaziland - Community takes part in treatment

Libya: Detainees tortured and denied medical care

26 January 2012

Libya. MSF physiotherapist with a patient in a prison in Misrata.

MSF Suspends Work in Detention Centres in Misrata TRIPOLI – Detainees in the Libyan city of Misrata are being tortured and denied urgent medical care, leading the international medical humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) to suspend its operations in detention centres in Misrata, MSF announced today. Libya. MSF physiotherapist with a patient in a prison in Misrata. Photo: Benoit Finck MSF teams began working in Misrata’s detention centres in August, 2011, to treat war-wounded detainees. Since then, MSF doctors were increasingly confronted with patients who suffered injuries caused by torture during interrogation sessions....

Sirte: The integrity of medical facilities must be respected

19 October 2011

Theatre room, MSF surgeons

The international medical humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) today called on the warring parties in Libya to immediately halt all attacks on and intrusions into medical facilities in the town of Sirte. All wounded patients must have access to care and must be able to receive treatment without discrimination and fear of reprisal. Ibn Sina Hospital in Sirte has borne much of the brunt of fighting that has raged there recently. Last week, MSF teams based in Misrata were able to travel to Sirte and observe the damage to the hospital. "Ibn Sina Hospital came under fire and was attacked," said Barbara Frederick, MSF emergency coordinator. "An explosion...

Libya: Fighting, trauma and health care in Sirte

17 October 2011

MSF is working across Libya. These MSF surgeons are at work in the Abbad Hospital, Misrata.

In this interview conducted on 13th October 2011, Dr Gabriele Rossi, MSF emergency coordinator, describes a very serious situation in Sirte. On the night following the interview, six patients died at Ibn Sina hospital because they could not be operated on. In the north part of town, thousands of civilians remain completely trapped by the fighting. MSF is working across Libya. These MSF surgeons are at work in the Abbad Hospital, Misrata. Photo: Benoit Finck / MSF “We are in Ibn Sina hospital right now, which is the main hospital in Sirte. We have been here for three days. Today we have been hearing more firing and shooting than yesterday – there is lots of noise, and the...

Libya – Bringing urgent medical care to strife-hit Sirte

05 October 2011

Libya: Emergency surgery by MSF

On 3 October MSF teams managed to deliver medicines and medical supplies to the city of Sirte, at the heart of the current fighting in Libya. For the last ten days, MSF has attempted to deliver aid to Sirte where, according to doctors in the town, the healthcare situation has continued to deteriorate. Libya: During the peak of the fighting between rebels and pro-Ghadaffi forces, 16-year old Ibrahim was hit by a bullet when he was driving in a car to the mosque together with his parents. Photo: Niklas Bergstrand/MSF “They say that their hospital is overrun with wounded and they aren’t always able to respond to...

Aljazeera: Foreign migrants at risk in Libya

29 August 2011

800-1000 migrants and refugees are living amongst boats on an abandoned military base on the outskirts of Tripoli, where they have sought refuge in fear of harassment and violence. Many have been there for the duration of the conflict, been robbed of all identity papers, money and live in constant fear, without access to healthcare or security. MSF has provided medical consultations and assistance to the community, and are calling for their protection. © Ron Haviv/VII

In Tripoli, many foreign workers say thay are being assaulted and illegally detained. Some are accused of being Muammar Gaddafi supporters and mercenaries. Others live in makeshift camps, hiding from men with weapons, without knowing whether their attackers are Gaddafi's loyalists or rebel fighters. Al Jazeera's James Bays has this exclusive report, including an interview with MSF South Africa's Jonathan Whittall, Head of Mission for the Tripoli activities. Watch report here.

YOU: Libya: Victory, Joy - and Chaos

08 September 2011

800-1000 migrants and refugees are living amongst boats on an abandoned military base on the outskirts of Tripoli, where they have sought refuge in fear of harassment and violence. © Ron Haviv/VII

When Colonel Muammar Gaddafi finally fled his home in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, ahead of advancing revel forces who'd waged a six-month revolution the news was greeted with joy in the streets... But the immediate future does not look rosy despite the fact Libya is now free of the dictator's rule of more than 40 years... According to reports at least 400 people were killed and 2,000 injured in fierce fighting between the rebels and Gaddafi's forces... To make matters worse repeated interruptions of power and water supplies made it difficult to provide medical care for the injured, Dr Prinitha Pillay of Doctors Without Borders says... Read full article below.

Times: Foreign labourers stuck in Libya

05 September 2011

Dr. Mohamad Dalwai provides a medical consultation to one of the 800-1000 migrants and refugees who are living amongst boats on an abandoned military base on the outskirts of Tripoli. © Ron Haviv/VII

A Cape Town doctor, Mohammed Dalwai, working with an international humanitarian aid group in Libya, has described how more than 1000 foreign labourers are holed up in derelict camps without food and water… "There is nothing at the camps, no water, no electricity. They are sleeping under derelict boats and there is excrement on the side of the harbour wall," said Dalwai… Read full article

Mail & Guardian: Tripoli hospital closes as fighting rages on

27 August 2011

Tripoli's Abu Salim Hospital has been shut down because staff and patients can no longer access it, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said on Saturday. Patients have been evacuated to surrounding clinics and hospitals as the area's medical personnel struggle to navigate through a throng of violent fighting in Libya's capital, Dr Prinitha Pillay told the Mail & Guardian on Saturday. More than 200 decomposing bodies were found at the hospital this week. Read full article.

M&G: 'South Africa, send your doctors to Libya'

25 August 2011

The MSF emergency team attends to patients in Zintan, Libya/Lahoucine Boufoullous

While South Africa remains firm in its refusal to free up Gaddafi's frozen assets for Libya's National Transitional Council, the asset freeze has left the country short of basic medical supplies. The president of the South African chapter of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), Dr Prinithia Pillay... [urged] South African doctors and nurses to volunteer in Libya. She said "the daily bombing of the capital had left children traumatised" and hospitals short of essential medicines and staff to treat patients. Read full article.

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