Libyan refugees double since last September

According to the United Nations refugee agency, the number of people displaced within Libya has almost doubled from an estimated 230,000 last September to more than 434,000 amid escalating fighting this year in different parts of the crisis-gripped North-African country.
“The internally displaced persons (IDPs) comprise 83,697 families, according to countrywide data collected by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for refugees (UNHCR) and its partners, the agency’s spokesperson said from Geneva today, where she was briefing the press.
The numbers could be higher, warned UNHCR, but with limited access, the agency relies heavily on local partners, who are themselves unable to reach all affected areas because of a volatile situation. “This also reduces communication and monitoring and for these reasons their figures are an estimate”, stressed Ms. Fleming.
The largest bloc, about a quarter of the IDP population (105,000), is located in the eastern city of Benghazi, where UNHCR has been working with the municipality, as well as local and international NGOs to distribute items to some 6,000 of the most vulnerable IDPs between March and June.
“The main areas of concern in Benghazi relate to the collapse of the health sector, the closure of more than 60 schools as well as universities, criminality stemming from the absence of rule of law, and frequent reports of civilian casualties as a result of fighting in the coastal city,” the UNHCR spokesperson explained.