UN official regrets deterioration of situation in Libya

BRUSSELS, Dec 4 (KUNA) -- The situation in Libya has deteriorated for the people and there are more Libyans suffering because of the conflict, UNHCR's Special Envoy for the Central Mediterranean Situation Vincent Cochetel said Wednesday.
"We have not seen so many crossing from the Libyan border to Tunisia. Today in Tunisia you have more Libyans than migrants and refugees in Libya. It's over one million Libyans in Tunisia today," the envoy of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) told a news conference at the Brussels Press Club this evening.
They don't have the refugee status but are hosted by the Tunisian government and they get various forms of assistance, he noted.
The UN refugee agency is providing assistance to the most vulnerable internally displaced persons (IDP) by the conflict in Libya and over 300,000 people are IDPs in Libya, he said.
"We also assist some 450,000 people who have returned to their previous location from where they had left in Libya," said Cochetel.
There are 46,000 registered refugees and asylum seekers in Libya today. He said 56 percent of the people who tried to leave Libya by boat were intercepted or rescued by the Libyan coast guard and brought back to Libya.
50 percent of those brought back go to the detention centres and 50 percent are told to just walk away, he added. (end) nk.gb