Two and a half months after the forced suspension of our activities by the Libyan authorities, following a wave of repression that affected ten humanitarian organisations present in the west of the country, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) reaffirms our willingness to resume medical services and support to the Libyan authorities. We also remain concerned about the health of our former patients and the interruption of access to healthcare for people in Libya.

On 27 March 2025, MSF was forced to suspend our medical activities in the country, following the closure of our premises by the Internal Security Agency (ISA) of Libya and the interrogation of several of our team members. All MSF staff were released, but after the crackdown, we were forced to evacuate our international employees from Libya and to terminate the contracts of our Libyan staff.

Since mid-March, the ISA began summoning and interrogating the staff of international non-governmental organisations providing care to migrants and refugees in Libya.

“MSF is ready to resume the medical projects that were underway for tuberculosis, mental health and maternal health, for any patient in need of care, and in collaboration with the relevant Libyan authorities,” says Steven Purbrick, MSF head of mission for Libya. “Provided that the safety of our staff and patients is guaranteed, MSF calls for its suspension to be lifted.”

MSF had received no formal notification of the basis for the ISA actions and regrets this intimidatory crackdown which compromises access to medical care. We are deeply concerned with the consequences for patients’ health. We had treated migrants and refugees who are subjected to abuse and violence, with severe health consequences and acute medical needs. MSF’s referral mechanism to UNHCR or IOM to evacuate migrants and refugee patients identified as medical priority cases has now come to a halt.

Before the suspension of activities, MSF was treating a cohort of more than 300 Libyan, migrant and refugee patients, mostly for tuberculosis, antenatal care and psychological support, especially for survivors of violence. Some patients were in a critical situation. MSF managed to refer most of them to other facilities, such as the National Center for Disease Control, but also lost contact with several of them.

“Two of our tuberculosis patients died in Misrata immediately after our suspension. We hear that a further four other patients have since passed away in the same facility,” says Carla Peruzzo, medical coordinator for MSF in Libya. “We are very concerned about patients with chronic diseases like diabetic patients in need of insulin and people in need of dialysis, with kidney chronic disease.” 

MSF was supporting the only public centre for tuberculosis patients in Libya. The tuberculosis unit was implemented by MSF within the Misrata Chest hospital in 2020.

Medications destined for donation to public hospitals were locked inside MSF’s premises, which we will now be obliged to destroy due to the loss of temperature control.

“The medical needs met by MSF are not always covered in Libya's public health system, which faces structural challenges, such as understaffing and shortages of medication supply,” says Peruzzo. “A breakdown in tuberculosis treatment can lead to the development of a drug-resistant form of the disease, rapid deterioration in the patient's state of health and even death.”

Over the years MSF had successfully developed a technical collaboration with the National Tuberculosis Program to reinforce capacities to detect cases in specialised facilities, review national guidelines of the central laboratory in Tripoli and support the department of health education. We are ready to continue our planned support to the National Tuberculosis Program and the rest of our medical activities in Libya.