The United Nations on Tuesday launched a $75.5-million (67.5-million-euro) appeal to tackle a swelling humanitarian and migration crisis in Libya. The UN's High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said the funds would go toward providing essential services for displaced people, refugees and asylum-seekers. The appeal is in partnership with the UN's International Organisation for Migration (IOM).
"We have urgent work to do in Libya and can only do it together," said UNHCR head Filippo Grandi in a statement. "We are going the extra mile in trying to make a difference for hundreds of thousands of people." The work will buttress the IOM's own appeal, launched last month, which set down a three-year $180-million plan. Rival administrations and militias have fought for control of the oil-rich country since the 2011 uprising that toppled Muammar Qadhafi. Libya is also the hub for African migrants desperate to reach Europe. Their trek is notorious for exploitation and maltreatment and for the dangerous sea crossing. The IOM Tuesday that it had tallied 1,481 migrant deaths on the Mediterranean, with a further 1,720 people missing, since the start of the year.
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