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As escalating violence in Libya drives nearly 110,000 people to flee over the Egyptian and Tunisian borders, AmeriCares is responding to calls for humanitarian assistance with an emergency airlift of medical aid, arriving in Cairo on March 3.
The ongoing armed conflict between anti-government protesters and Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s forces has spread throughout the country in recent days increasing the flow of evacuees. The UN Refugee Agency reports that among the Egyptians, Tunisians and other nationals attempting to return to their homelands, at least 55,000 are crossing into Egypt and 40,000 are crossing into Tunisia, with many others moving into two transit camps that have sprung up along the Libyan border.
With tribal leaders and health care providers in the border areas requesting humanitarian assistance, AmeriCares partners assembled teams on the Libyan-Egyptian border to assess the immediate needs at the two camps. Based on these findings, AmeriCares has rushed an emergency shipment out of Amsterdam containing antibiotics, pain relievers, basic chronic care medicines and other medical supplies, enough to treat an estimated 15,000 patients.
The Egyptian government and military have established a field hospital at the border and are helping Egyptian nationals return to their communities. An estimated 7,000 third-country nationals, with many more expected in the coming days, have arrived and are seeking assistance for repatriation to their home countries. These people fleeing the violence, who are waiting to be cleared for exiting Egypt, are in need of tents, medical care and basic hygiene items.
“AmeriCares medical assistance will be used primarily for these third-country nationals who are stranded on the Egyptian border while arrangements are made for them to return to their home countries,” said Christoph Gorder, senior vice president of global program operations for AmeriCares. “We are monitoring the situation in Libya daily with our partners, and based on their assessments in the two camps and in the Libyan city of Benghazi, we are prepared to provide further support for their efforts.”
For more than 25 years AmeriCares has provided medical relief and humanitarian assistance to millions affected by natural disasters and man-made crises. Disaster relief and emergency medical supplies are strategically stocked and positioned to help people in crisis, wherever and whenever they need it.
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