Question Period Note: Canada's Humanitarian Response in Libya

Canada is deeply concerned with the ongoing violence and political instability in Libya and the resulting humanitarian crisis.

• With over 800,000 people in need of humanitarian assistance, the crisis in Libya has disproportionally affected vulnerable groups such as internally displaced people, refugees and migrants.

• In 2019, Canada provided $3.5M to address the most urgent humanitarian needs in Libya, and repeatedly called on parties to the conflict to abide by their obligations under international humanitarian law.

• For example, in 2018, Canada's funding helped partners deliver critical reproductive health services to conflict-affected women and girls in Libya, including support to over 4,700 survivors of gender-based violence.

Since 2014, civilians in Libya have been suffering due of conflict, political instability, a collapsing economy and a deteriorating public sector. Conflict-affected people are often living in unsafe conditions and high-risk, hostile environments, with little or no access to life-saving health care, essential medicines, food, safe drinking water, shelter and education. The UN estimates that there are over 823,000 people in Libya in need of humanitarian assistance, half of whom are refugees, asylum-seekers and migrants whose status makes them particularly vulnerable to abuse, marginalization and exploitation.

On April 4, 2019, fighting escalated near Tripoli after the Libyan National Army started a military offensive on the capital. According to IOM, over 125,000 people have been displaced so far due to hostilities near Tripoli, for a total of over 300,000 internally displaced persons across Libya. Attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure are frequent, in clear violation of international humanitarian law. Humanitarian access to affected people, both in detention centers and in urban areas, has become an increasing challenge, due to high insecurity near the frontlines and increasing attacks against medical facilities and health workers.

Refugees and migrants continue to travel from Sub-Saharan Africa to North Africa, many of them hoping to make it across the Mediterranean Sea to Europe. With the current situation in Tripoli, humanitarian organizations are concerned about the safety of refugees and migrants who remain trapped in detention centres located near active conflict areas, and are advocating for the transfer of vulnerable detainees to safe locations and for alternatives to detention.

In 2019, Canada allocated $3.5M to ICRC, WFP, UNHCR, and UNFPA to deliver food, relief items, protection services, shelter, health care, as well as water, sanitation, and hygiene. Canada is also supporting humanitarian partners in Libya through its significant contributions to the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF). So far in 2019, the CERF has allocated USD $3.8M to support the humanitarian response in Libya.

None