Attacks on Health Workers in Libya Endanger COVID-19 Response

Across Libya, active conflict is endangering health workers as they try and fight the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Megan Doherty, Mercy Corps' Senior Director of Policy and Advocacy, says:

“Despite the repeated calls for a ceasefire in Libya, Tripoli saw more casualties in April than in any other month since the beginning of the war. Even as health workers are trying to prepare for more COVID-19 cases, clinics and hospitals are being hit by airstrikes, health workers are being attacked and killed, and armed groups have bombed and stolen ambulances. 

“Health workers should be working to prevent the spread of the virus, not fleeing rocket attacks. We’ve seen health facilities be taken over by armed groups in this conflict, and health workers forced to treat war wounded before other patients. This conflict pulls health workers and resources away from the response to the pandemic, endangering not just millions of Libyans, but some 700,000 refugees and migrants caught in the middle as well. The virus will disproportionately affect Libya’s most vulnerable – the refugees, migrants, and displaced Libyans sheltering in overcrowded camps and unable to self-isolate or safely reach medical services.

“The threat of COVID emerges amidst a war that has claimed thousands of lives and displaced hundreds of thousands of Libyans. This is a proxy conflict, fueled by outside powers violating an international arms embargo.

“Calls to stop the fighting are not naive; a ceasefire is not only the most pragmatic course, it is also the only course that will give Libya a fighting chance against the disease.”

Mercy Corps has been working in Libya since 2011. Last year, more than 16,000 people benefitted from Mercy Corps' programs, which provided emergency cash assistance so families can purchase what they need most urgently.