UN pushes for temporary ceasefire in Libya

Yesterday, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Amos addressed the UN Security Council on the situation in Libya, calling for a temporary ceasefire in Misrata and other areas under heavy fire so that civilians wishing to flee the violence can leave safely.

Amos underscored the gravity of the emergency by laying out a series of statistics:

• Over 746,000 people have already fled the country.
• Some 5,000 people remain stranded at border points in Egypt, Tunisia, and Niger.
• Approximately 58,000 internally displaced people are living in spontaneous settlements in eastern areas of Libya.
• There is not yet an accurate figure of the total number of casualties since the start of the crisis.

She also criticized the continued attacks on civilians, including bombs, reports of sexual violence and the potential recruitment of child soldiers.

For more information, read Amos’s statement online. 

For a list of InterAction members responding to the crisis, see our Libya crisis response page.