MSF ordered to leave Libya within a month

The Libyan Ministry of Foreign Affairs has ordered Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) to leave the country by November 9.

The order comes after MSF was forced to suspend activities in Libya on March 27, 2025, following the closure of our premises by the Libyan Internal Security Agency and the interrogation of several employees. This wave of repression also affected nine other humanitarian organizations operating in the west of the country.

A man rests his head on his lap in Libya. — A man waits in one of the health centers where MSF has provided care in the city of Zuwara. | Libya 2024 © Shouqi Benarabi/MSF

Intense needs remain in Libya

Since our suspension in March, MSF has consistently expressed our desire to be able to provide medical aid in Libya once again, and we have continued to engage with the authorities.

"We deeply regret this decision by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and we are concerned about the consequences for the health of the people we assist,” explains Steve Purbrick, head of programs for MSF in Libya. “We believe that MSF still has an important role to play in Libya, particularly in the diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis, supporting the Libyan health system, and providing access to health care for refugees and migrants, who are excluded from care. Refugees and migrants in Libya are also subject to arbitrary detention and serious violence."

There are now no international NGOs providing medical care to refugees and migrants in western Libya. The situation is especially concerning amid drastic cuts to international aid funding.

“No reason has been given to justify our expulsion, and the process remains unclear," adds Purbrick. “MSF's registration with the relevant authorities in the country remains valid, so we hope to be able to find a positive solution to this situation."

Guinean migrant lies on the ground in Libya. — A man from Guinea relaxes at a clandestine house, waiting for a smuggler on the Niger-Libya road. | Libya 2019 © Jérôme Tubiana/MSF

Migrants in Libya face dire conditions and constant insecurity

People rescued at sea or treated in Europe after successfully completing their journey across the Mediterranean have shared with MSF stories of experiencing extreme violence and sexual abuse in Libya, both from Libyan officials and armed groups.

“I came to Libya eight months ago to work. I paid the middleman 500,000 Bangladeshi taka [$4,113] and still owe another 300,000,” a Bangladeshi migrant told MSF. “I was met at the airport and taken to a storeroom. There, 80 of us were held in complete darkness, with no toilet. They kept beating and kicking us. One man tried to escape—he was shot dead in front of us.”

In collaboration with the Libyan health authorities, in 2024, MSF carried out over 15,000 medical consultations, 3,000 mental health consultations, and 2,000 tuberculosis consultations. MSF was involved in identifying particularly vulnerable patients—migrants and refugees—and evacuating them from Libya via a humanitarian corridor to Italy.

Seventy-six former patients were successfully evacuated through this program since 2024, and a further 63 were due to follow by the end of the year—their fate is now unknown. In 2023, MSF also provided emergency medical aid following the floods in Derna.