Almost all people who attempt to cross the Mediterranean Sea pass through Libya. Between January and mid-August 2021, the EU-funded Libyan Coastguard intercepted over 22,000 people at sea and returned them to Libya. This has resulted in an increase in the number of people arbitrarily detained in detention centres, often in violent, inhumane conditions.
MSF provides medical care and food and hygiene kits to people held in detention centres in the country’s northwest.
Migrants and refugees living outside detention centres are exposed to life-threatening risks, such as being held captive by trafficking networks in clandestine jails. Our teams provide healthcare to migrant communities outside of detention – including those who have escaped – in Tripoli and Bani Walid.
MSF also supports the Ministry of Health in its tuberculosis response; we provide technical support in Misrata and Tripoli, and provide diagnosis and treatment to patients in two facilities. We provide ante- and postnatal care to mostly Libyan women in Bani Walid.
![Q&A with Libya HoM, Beatrice Lau _ENG Q&A with Libya HoM, Beatrice Lau _ENG](https://img.msf.org/Doc_Prod/CMS2/a/7/3/6/MSB96600.jpg)
Libya Head of Mission, Beatrice Lau
Dire conditions for migrants and refugees in detention centres in Libya
Our returned Head of Mission Beatrice Lau describes the conditions for migrants and refugees in detention centers in Libya. MSF suspended activities in the detention centres in Tripoli in late June 2021, as a response to the level and rate of violence observed towards migrants and refugees held indefinitely in Libya’s detention centres. Despite this latest decision, efforts to intercept, forcibly return and arbitrarily detain men, women and children in detention centres in Libya are ongoing.
Our activities in 2022 in Libya
Data and information from the International Activity Report 2022.
222
222
€11.5 M
11.5M
2011
2011
![Libya IAR Map 2022 Libya IAR Map 2022](https://img.msf.org/AssetLink/2x86b5qfixqch1a320l71sfh60ju2r4e.jpg)
![](/themes/custom/msf_theme/src/kss/components/image/assets/bg-transparent.png)
49,900
49,9
4,070
4,07
340
34
![Migrants and refugees in Zintan and Gharyan detention centres in Libya Migrants and refugees in Zintan and Gharyan detention centres in Libya](https://img.msf.org/AssetLink/u6k3q4p4d0eqm5w4cydb8e0540rn41sy.jpg)
Out of sight, out of mind: refugees in Libya's detention centres
![Condemned to drown at sea or be locked up in Libya Condemned to drown at sea or be locked up in Libya](https://img.msf.org/AssetLink/rd8w5q2j1y4086t63mg54o4gynb2rhxn.jpg)
“Healthwise, it was a disaster” in Libya’s Zintan and Gharyan detention centres
![Diplomatic Stand Off Mediterranean Sea Diplomatic Stand Off Mediterranean Sea](https://img.msf.org/AssetLink/w57dbh24a2dtv5na8615c0375r65p21h.jpg)
European policies continue to claim lives on the Mediterranean Sea
![Condemned to drown at sea or be locked up in Libya Condemned to drown at sea or be locked up in Libya](https://img.msf.org/AssetLink/u4b8opbay8hug517xm40s837t2t1ggok.jpg)
More than medicine: A look at mental health needs in detention
![Condemned to drown at sea or be locked up in Libya Condemned to drown at sea or be locked up in Libya](https://img.msf.org/AssetLink/jwrob23tgicsf5xme63xaxf4144nu3ea.jpg)
Time running out for evacuations of trapped refugees in Tripoli amid shooting
![المهاجرون محتجزون في طرابلس](/sites/default/files/styles/card_half/public/images/image00001.jpeg?itok=vct_zaoe)
Detained refugees trapped, Libyan families flee, as fighting worsens in Tripoli
![Condemned to drown at sea or be locked up in Libya Condemned to drown at sea or be locked up in Libya](https://img.msf.org/AssetLink/dh61144t37h11ccvi23x8e3k77vkl0e2.jpg)
Trapped refugees must be released and granted safety from Tripoli fighting
![Condemned to drown at sea or be locked up in Libya Condemned to drown at sea or be locked up in Libya](https://img.msf.org/AssetLink/01oivew2623p56j64gqer04cs1du527i.jpg)
Migrants in Libya: “We were able to make their time in that horrible place slightly better.”
![Condemned to drown at sea or be locked up in Libya Condemned to drown at sea or be locked up in Libya](https://img.msf.org/AssetLink/7sm5g5nmkl8j7yq1m6snvobj1d2jick8.jpg)