The European Commission is giving 2 million euros in emergency funding to assist Libyans who have been forced to flee homes due to worsening violence in the country.
According to a European Commission press release issued on Monday, the funding will provide humanitarian assistance and protection to the most vulnerable people affected by the conflict.
“It will be used to provide food, shelter, medical assistance and psycho-social support,”it said, noting the approaching winter will also increase the need for warm clothing, heaters and insulated shelter.
“It is clear that there are huge needs and the emergency aid we are providing can be a lifeline to some of the most vulnerable families caught up in the conflict,” said European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management Christos Stylianides.
It is estimated that nearly 400,000 people have been displaced due to fighting in Libya since May this year. The worsening security situation has hampered humanitarian access. Most international aid workers have left the country, leaving local personnel to cope with an increased workload and a rapidly deteriorating humanitarian environment, said the press release.
Libya has been suffering from growing instability as heavy clashes further polarize the North African country. Since the ouster of long-ruling strongman Moammar Qadhafi in 2011, the Libyan government has long been at the mercy of rogue brigades as the central government has not had enough power to regain control over its territory.
In Libya, forces loyal to General Khalifa Haftar sent military reinforcements to the oil-rich region known as the oil crescent region to fight the Dawn militias, military officials said on Sunday.
General Saqr Al-Jroshi, Haftar’s air force commander, announced that two Su-24M air fighters joined the air force fleet and landed in Ras Lanuf Oil Airport.
Meanwhile, infantry units military commanders and 30 military vehicles arrived in the region, accompanied by additional military vehicles and personnel in support of the combat confronting the region.
Militias of Libya Dawn launched a military operation earlier last week named “Sunrise operation to liberate oil fields and port.” It claimed that the operation was ordered by the outgoing General National Congress.
The oil crescent region is an area which includes a number of cities between Benghazi and Sirte (500 km east of the capital). It contains the largest oil reserves in the country, in addition to the ports of Al-Sidra, Ras Lanuf and Brega, the biggest oil ports in Libya.
Fighting in the oil crescent region caused a decline in Libyan oil production to around 250 thousand barrels per day, compared to 800 thousand barrels per day before fighting began earlier last week.
http://www.libyanewstoday.com/eu-releases-emergency-funds-to-libya/
