Since the outbreak of war in Sudan, thousands of refugees have fled to Libya, with a significant surge in arrivals since November 2024. INTERSOS is on the ground, providing protection, education and health care services to Sudanese refugees in key transit hubs, such as Ajdabiya in East Libya.
Libya has long been a major transit country for people from Africa heading toward Europe, but it has also historically been a destination for Sudanese seeking job opportunities. Since April 2023, when political tensions in Sudan escalated into a devastating civil war, over 210,000 Sudanese refugees have arrived in Libya, with a peak in arrivals from November 2024. Sudanese nationals now represent 73% of the refugee population in Libya. Most enter the country through the border town of Al Kufra before travelling onward to Ajdabiya or Tripoli. Ajdabiya, in particular, serves as a critical transit hub, with some refugees staying to look for work while others continue their journey north-west towards Tripoli.
INTERSOS is one of the only international humanitarian organisations present in Ajdabiya. INTERSOS’ Community Center in Ajdabiya serves as a safe space for Sudanese refugees in Libya, offering protection services at the centre, access to non-formal education, and primary health care services. INTERSOS also runs a mobile clinic team that provides primary health care services in informal settlements/shelters where new Sudanese arrivals stay in Ajdabiya. In December 2024 alone, INTERSOS supported 1,729 people with protection, education and health services.
As Libya is not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention, Sudanese refugees lack official protection and are considered migrants or foreigners. The absence of legal documentation severely limits access to essential services like education and dignified income opportunities and leaves them vulnerable to exploitation and abuse.
Children represent 60-70% of the beneficiary caseload at INTERSOS centres. Many are unable to attend school due to a lack of documentation, financial constraints, or Libyan schools’ limited capacity to absorb more students. In collaboration with UNICEF and the Sudanese Embassy, INTERSOS helps families obtain the necessary school enrollment documentation while providing non-formal education and helping children pass mandatory placement tests.
At the centres, INTERSOS social workers assist children with psychosocial support, helping them to overcome trauma following conflict and displacement and physical, verbal and emotional abuse. While many Sudanese move with their families, there are also a substantial number of unaccompanied and separated children who lack adequate support due to the absence of alternative care options for these children, often leaving them abandoned and stranded throughout their journey, exposing them to further risks of violence and abuse.
INTERSOS also supports women and girls survivors of sexual and gender-based violence, whether along the migration route or in Libya. Sudanese girls are at high risk of being subjected to the traditional harmful practice of female genital mutilation (FGM), a practice prevalent in Sudan but not in Libya. Besides individual case management services for child protection cases, SGBV survivors and persons with specific needs (e.g. single mothers, pregnant and lactating women, persons with important medical conditions and persons with disabilities), including internal referrals for specialized services such as legal assistance and psychological counselling, INTERSOS protection team provides collective psychosocial support, awareness raising and information sharing on protection, legal documentation, health and nutrition and education topics.
While some Sudanese find shelter with relatives or in shared housing within Libya’s established Sudanese communities, those with fewer resources often live in informal settlements, where they endure poor sanitation conditions and remain vulnerable to violence and exploitation. Since September 2024, INTERSOS has been running a Mobile Clinic Team (MCT) in Ajdabiya that operates across four informal sites/settlements – including three primarily populated by Sudanese refugees and one camp for Tawargha IDPs – delivering primary health care services to the most vulnerable people who often have no access to medical service due to a lack of information on services available or on how to access these service as refugee, in addition to the lack of financial means to reach the operating health facilities in Ajdabiya or lack financial means to cover the cost.
Primary health care services on the sites permit early detection and prevention of complications, preventing refugees from having to go for high-cost specialized medical care. The mobile clinic team also operates weekly and daily after finishing roving the sites from the INTERSOS community centre in Ajdabiya. In December 2024, INTERSOS provided healthcare to 826 people, offering primary medical services and holding health awareness sessions on several topics, like antenatal and postnatal care, breast cancer, the importance of breastfeeding and infant/young child feeding, nutrition, hypertension, urinary tract infections, diabetes, winter-related symptoms, tuberculosis, chronic diseases and allergies, and good hygiene practices.