Last week, the UN Refugee Agency, managed to deliver urgently needed assistance to hundreds of displaced Libyan families in the town of Murzuk, in southern Libya. The agency stressed that humanitarian help is desperately needed in this region, where "recent deadly clashes between armed groups in and around the city of Sabha (around 760 km south of Tripoli) have forced an estimated 1,900 Libyan families to flee their homes." 

The UN agency emphasized that the Libyan population in the south "needs adequate shelter and basic household items including hygiene kits, sleeping mats, mattresses and kitchen sets. The situation has been exacerbated due to a restriction on humanitarian access to the region that has been ongoing for several weeks and remains extremely volatile. Many have sought refuge in local schools, hospitals and other public buildings." 

The UNHCR added that "currently more than 184,000 internally displaced people are in need of humanitarian assistance, as well as 368,000 people who have recently returned to their homes. UNHCR will continue to advocate on behalf of the needy, and to provide relief until longterm solutions can be found, including returning home on a voluntary basis and in conditions of dignity and safety." 

UNHCR said that an "emergency aid convoy left the Libyan capital Tripoli on April 4. The convoy, consisting of seven trucks loaded with basic aid items was able to enter Sabha the following day where we distributed humanitarian assistance to 850 displaced families. Access to Murzuq and Oubari further south was initially blocked due to security reasons, and the aid had to wait in Sabha." 

Then, last week, "the local population began using the main roads from Sabha to Murzuk. This gave UNHCR a window of opportunity to urgently deliver core relief items to the city of Murzuk where on April 18. Three hundred and seventy displaced families finally received much needed aid." (African migrants in the town of Kufra, southeast Libya. Credit: EPA/SABRI ELMHEDWI)