100,000 Libyans flee fighting near Tripoli, UNHCR says
Fri Oct 10, 2014 10:40am GMT
(Adds details)
GENEVA Oct 10 (Reuters) - About 100,000 people have fled fighting near the
Libyan capital Tripoli in the past three weeks, adding to a growing problem
of internal displacement, the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR said on Friday.
"With fighting among rival armed groups intensifying in a number of areas of
Libya, we are seeing growing displacement, now estimated at 287,000 people
in 29 cities and towns countrywide," UNHCR said in a statement.
The main area of recent displacement was around Warshefana, a suburb of
Tripoli, while another 15,000 had fled from fighting around the Benina area
outside Benghazi, it said.
Most displaced people were living with local families but others were
sleeping in schools, parks and non-residential buildings converted into
emergency shelters.
UNHCR spokesman Adrian Edwards said it was hard to get access and
information and it was not clear if the displaced people would be able to
return home soon, but many local communities were unable to cope with the
influx.
One town, Ajaylat, 80 km (50 miles) west of Tripoli, had a population of
100,000 but was hosting 16,000 refugees, and its health service was
struggling to cope, UNHCR said. (Reporting by Tom Miles, editing by Dominic
Evans)