On Wednesday, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), announced that it has rehabilitated the Abu-Salim stadium in Tripoli. This coincided with the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace (IDSDP).
In a tweet, UNHCR said that this was implemented with Greece’s support. It added that it is currently developing activities to help protect children from local and displaced communities, through sports.
Notably, UNHCR reported that it has distributed winter items to 200 displaced Tawerghan families living in settlements in Ajdabia.
Around 950 IDP’s received the items through UNHCR, and its partner LibAid (Libyan Humanitarian Relief Agency).
“With this final delivery, UNHCR and LibAid have reached out to 1,146 displaced Libyan families in eastern Libya,” a statement read.
Mattresses, blankets, winter apparel, footwear, kitchen sets, solar lamps, school bags, and electric heaters are among the items, according to the statement.
During the 2011 uprising, residents of Tawergha allied with the forces of former Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi against rebels in the nearby city of Misrata. They were left displaced after Gaddafi’s regime was toppled.
On Monday, UNHCR’s Filippo Grandi criticized the “double standards policy” adopted by a number of European countries regarding the refugee crisis.
These remarks came after 90 migrants drowned when their overcrowded boat capsized in the Mediterranean. This is the latest tragedy involving migrants departing from the North African country, to seek a better life in Europe.
“Europe has proven its ability to host 4 million refugees from Ukraine, generously and effectively. It must now urgently consider how to apply this to other refugees and migrants knocking, in distress, at its doors,” Grandi tweeted.
Late on Saturday, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said the migrants were on a vessel that left Libya last week. It was unclear exactly when the boat ran into trouble, said Juan Matias Gil, the group’s Head of Mission.
MSF also announced that an oil tanker rescued four migrants early Saturday, in international waters. The survivors reported that they were on the boat along with about 100 other migrants.
It added that the tanker did not respond to its calls not to return the migrants to Libya, where “they will almost certainly face detention, abuse, and ill-treatment.”
Libya has emerged as the dominant transit point for migrants fleeing war and poverty in Africa and the Middle East.