Emergency medical organization Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) evacuated 99 people, including 64 war-wounded and 35 people accompanying them, by boat on Friday from Misrata to Zarzis, Tunisia. This operation took place two weeks after MSF’s first boat evacuation of 71 war-wounded people.

Libya © Tristan Pfund/MSF
A patient being loaded onto the MSF medical evacuation boat in Misrata.

This time, the MSF team was also able to assess the medical facilities in Misrata, where ongoing fighting has cut people off from external assistance while hospitals and clinics are overwhelmed with casualties.

“For weeks now, health structures have been struggling to cope with the influx of patients. They have been lacking medical equipment and personnel to treat the wounded and the sick suffering from chronic diseases,” says Morten Rostrup, an MSF doctor who was on the evacuation boat. “With the latest heavy bombardments in Misrata, the situation is worsening as hospitals have to discharge patients before their treatment is completed in order to treat the new wounded from fighting. Many injured cannot even access medical facilities without further risking their life.”

In Misrata, the MSF team are assessing the situation in a camp located near the port where thousands of migrants have taken refuge and are awaiting repatriation.

“What we have seen is that these people live in extremely difficult conditions, lacking proper shelter and food. They are desperate to go back to their home countries,” says Rostrup.

During this second medical evacuation, the MSF team onboard included seven doctors, six nurses, one psychologist and nine Tunisian volunteers. They provided emergency care to 64 patients while the boat was sailing back to Tunisia. Among the patients, 10 are in a critical state, three on mechanical ventilation and another three on oxygen, while another one is suffering from severe anaemia and needs a blood transfusion.

The boat docked in the port of Zarzis early on Saturday. The patients’ transfer to the city of Sfax, which has a dozen hospitals and clinics, is being organized by the Tunisian health authorities and the Red Crescent.

This medical evacuation was carried out independently from all the parties involved in the conflict in accordance with MSF’s principles of neutrality and impartiality. While conflict persists inside Libya, MSF is scaling up its assistance to people affected by the violence, regardless of their affiliation or origin and independently of any political considerations.

MSF reiterates its call on all those involved in the fighting to allow unhindered access to medical assistance for all Libyans affected by the violence. MSF also calls for the respect of medical facilities, healthcare personnel and vehicles transporting patients.

MSF in Libya

During a first medical evacuation by boat on April 3, MSF evacuated 71 patients from Misrata. Six tonnes of emergency medical materials were donated to the Libyan medical committee in order to help health facilities cope with the influx of patients. On March 21, MSF sent a first shipment of surgical kits for 300 wounded to the hospital in Misrata where large numbers of injured persons and severe shortages of medicine had been reported.

In the eastern city of Benghazi, MSF teams continue to work with the local health authorities and to provide support wherever needed, including technical support to the Benghazi central pharmacy in waste management and stock organization. In Al Jalaa Hospital, which is both the main trauma hospital and the referral facility for eastern Libya, MSF medical teams are supporting existing hospital staff with nursing care organization.

MSF continues to send medical supplies to Libya so they can be dispatched to areas where the ongoing fighting has created the most needs. Since February 24, 44 tonnes of medicine and medical materials, including treatment for burns, have arrived in Benghazi.

In Ras Ajdir, Tunisia, at the border with Libya, MSF teams have been providing psychological support to people fleeing the conflict. They are also working in the transit camp at Choucha, where people are awaiting repatriation or resettlement. From the onset of violence in Libya, MSF’s priority has been to access areas with the largest needs.

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