The Libyan authorities and militias in control of southern cities and towns and international donors must ensure that those most marginalized are factored into their emergency public health response to the spread of COVID-19, Amnesty International said today. Libya’s public health system has been undermined by years of armed conflict and insecurity including attacks on medical facilities, the exodus of qualified medical personnel and frequent militia interference in the provision of medical services. In addition to these general risks, pre-existing discrimination against ethnic minority groups such as the Tabu and Tuareg create additional barriers to their access to healthcare. Since Libya reported its first COVID-19 case on 24 March, the figures have grown to 51 confirmed cases and one death.
Many cities and towns in the south of Libya have been historically segregated on the basis of tribal affiliation and ethnicity. The sporadic flaring of hostilities between different tribal militia groups hinders the movement of people in this area, affecting people’s access to health care when hospitals are in areas controlled by rival groups. For example, in Sabha, the largest city in southwestern Libya, Tabu residents told Amnesty International they avoid the main hospital, which is in a part of the city controlled predominantly by the rival Arab Awlad Sliman tribe. Credible sources told Amnesty International of incidents reported in previous years of Tabu men including patients at Sabha’s main hospital facing physical attacks, abductions and even killings. Sabha residents explained that fear of violence drives Tabu men in particular to go to a smaller underequipped hospital in Murzuq, a predominantly Tabu town 180 kms away, for treatment, instead of going to Sabha’s main hospital.
Some members of the Tabu and Touareg communities face additional barriers in accessing health care as they do not possess identity documents or family identity booklets to prove Libyan citizenship, necessary to access the free public health system. The lack of documentation has also had serious economic consequences, and many cannot afford to privately pay for medical expenses. Neither the internationally recognized Government of National Accord based in Tripoli, nor the self-styled Libyan National Army in control of eastern Libya and parts of the south have announced any measures to guarantee access to the public health care system for members of the Touareg and Tabu communities without identity documents. Members of both communities are also potentially more vulnerable to adverse impacts in case there is an outbreak of COVID-19, as they live in impoverished and densely populated neighborhoods such as Taouiri in Sabha, where social distancing is essentially impossible.
Furthermore, Amnesty International calls upon the international community and donors providing assistance for Libyan public health services to take into account the specific obstacles faced by the Tabu and Tuareg communities, including those who lack Libyan identity documents, in accessing medical services in the south.
Lähde: Amnesty International
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