MSF has been providing medical care and humanitarian assistance in Dhar el Jbel Detention centre (also called Zintan DC because it’s near Zintan city) since May 2019, after at least 22 people died from an outbreak of tuberculosis and other diseases between September 2018 and May 2019 in the area.

Over 250 people remain held in limbo in the detention centre today. They are all asylum seekers and refugees registered with the UNHCR. They fled their home countries and are unable to return for fear of violence or persecution. They have been detained in several facilities across Libya for the last two years. They have been through horrific experiences during their journey and many were held captive and tortured for several months by traffickers further south in Bani Walid. Ten are unaccompanied minors and 70 were unaccompanied minors when first detained and grew up since then in indefinite inhumane detention.

Over a month ago, they were told by local authorities and UN agencies that they will shortly be released and transferred to Tripoli, but since then the operation keeps being postponed. This has immediate impact on our patients: on their already fragile mental health and their living conditions. Some of the makeshift shelters they sleep in were dismantled prior to the imminent closure of the detention centre and they are now left out in the wintertime cold and frequent rainy days. This is why MSF decided to distribute winter clothing (raincoats, jackets, trousers, socks, caps) and to publically expose the situation and calls for action.