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Mahdi spent most of this year calling for an urgent evacuation from Libya to save his daughter’s life.
The girl, Mahjah, was just 17 months old when she died of cancer this month. She used to sing hymns to her father in the hospital, while he carried her on his shoulder, trying to distract her from the pain.
“She tried hard and wanted to live, but destiny was stronger,” says Mahdi.
Mahjah needed a bone marrow transplant, which was not available in Libya. Refugee resettlement and emergency evacuations, which were already extremely limited and slow, came to a complete halt when the pandemic began. Mahjah was one of many who suffered the consequences.
Mahdi, 43, from Sudan, has lived in Libya since 2015, after fleeing tribal conflict in Darfur.
Like tens of thousands of other refugees and asylum seekers, he is trapped in a country with militia rule, few opportunities and regular outbreaks of violence, unable to return to Sudan, due to the danger he would be in and without them. means. to find another route to safety.
Last March, Mahdi submitted a request to the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), asking for help and medical evacuation for her daughter, but nothing happened.
UNHCR spokeswoman Caroline Gluck said they were aware of the case, but there were no facilities in Libya for bone marrow transplants. He said UNHCR was advocating for more resettlement places and humanitarian visas for people with serious medical needs, but few countries would accept them. There were at least 11 other sick people in the same situation, some of whom were young children.
“It should also be emphasized that humanitarian flights out of Libya have recently resumed, due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the closure of global borders,” he said.
As Mahjah’s condition worsened, Mahdi locked his other two children, ages six and four, in the shelter they rented for the day, in a desperate attempt to keep them safe. She went to look for work, so she could earn enough to buy them food and pay for the baby’s medicines and scans. “I know very well that it was a terrible mistake, but I had no choice,” he says.
Humanitarian crisis
The pandemic has reduced international attention to Libya, which remains the scene of a massive humanitarian crisis, where refugees are trapped in a cycle of suffering, abuse and exploitation. Since 2017, the European Union has been supporting the Libyan coastguard to intercept boats of people trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea into Europe. Tens of thousands have been caught in this way and forced to return to Libya, often to indefinite detention.
That policy continues: As of December 16, nearly 11,000 people had been intercepted and returned. Only 655 had been legally evacuated.
“2020 has been one of the most challenging years for migrants in Libya,” said Safa Msehli, spokesperson for the International Organization for Migration.
“The hostilities that continued for most of the year, intensified and threatened lives. The humanitarian situation deteriorated further and thousands continued trying to cross the Mediterranean. The intolerable loss of life on land and at sea also continued, ”he said.
“Many migrants live in overcrowded and often unsanitary conditions in the country, with very little access to health, if any.[care]. Detainees also face increased risk due to the pandemic, which, when combined with such dire conditions, creates a disastrous living situation. “
Among those affected by the suspension of evacuations were more than 2,700 refugees and migrants in government-associated detention centers. Last month, around 50 risked shooting by guards and the threat of kidnapping on the street, escaping from a detention center in Zintan, in the Nafusa Mountains of Libya. Some of them had been locked up there for more than two years.
They were transferred to the remote detention center during the conflict in Tripoli in September 2018, after being captured at sea and held in other migrant detention centers.
Dozens of detainees died in Zintan in the intervening years, including several teenagers and a child, who died of appendicitis. Others suffered tuberculosis, medical negligence, heat stroke and smoke from a fire, which broke out inside a room in which they were held.
Access problems
UNHCR stopped visiting the detention center in early 2020, citing access problems, leading to further despair among Zintan refugees and migrants. “What can we do now?” One of those still locked up asked The Irish Times in recent days, via WhatsApp messages. “We just need help. Please help us.”
For refugees who escape or are released in cities, there are also few options. “The problem now is renting a house and money to pay for houses and food,” said one of the Zintan fugitives. “[And] our security is in jeopardy. “
While there are hotlines they can call for medical and other assistance, they complain that the phone is rarely answered and it is difficult to make an appointment with UNHCR to discuss evacuation.
“I am physically and mentally destroyed thinking about [when] they will call me, what will be the result, how can I stay strong until then? “said a man who has sought help.
Mahdi still hopes that the rest of his family can be saved. He says his wife cries all the time and doesn’t want to eat. His two remaining sons are upset, constantly waking up during the night or talking and sleepwalking.
“I suffered so much here that I felt a bitter taste in my throat from abuse and neglect. I lost a member of my family and I fear for the lives of the rest, ”he adds. “I’m devastated.”
If he can raise enough money, he says: “I will have to cross the sea with what is left of my family to save them from the risk of dying here.”
