Libya - IOM has carried out first aid training courses in Libya with rescuers involved in migrant lifesaving operations in the Mediterranean Sea. The three training courses for government and non-government actors took place in Tripoli in December 2016.

The trainings were part of the project Sea and Desert Migration Management for Libyan Authorities to Rescue Migrants (SEA DEMM), which is funded by the European Union’s Regional Development and Protection Programme. The programme has the overall goal of strengthening lifesaving responses and migrant protection.

These training courses included theoretical and practical sessions on responding to critical cases through first aid practices, as well as a session on disaster management. They were attended by 67 participants from the Libyan Coast Guard, Ports Security, the Directorate for Combating Irregular Migration (DCIM) and the Libyan Red Crescent.

“I would like to extend my thanks to IOM and the EU. We now have more knowledge and skills that can be used for saving lives of migrants during rescue operations,” said Abdulrahman Hassan from Ports Security, Ministry of Interior, Libya.

In the coming months, IOM will distribute 700 first aid kits to the Libyan Coast Guard based at hot spots, where migrant boats disembark. Fifty first aid kits were also distributed in November 2016. 

In 2016, IOM, in coordination with the Libyan Coast Guard and Libyan Ports Security, established three fully equipped medical clinics to ensure quick medical assessments of migrants in need of health treatment at the main Tripoli port, Garaboli, Zleitin and Zuwara disembarkation points, as well as the Al Ghariyan detention centre.

So far in 2017, 179 migrants have already been rescued in two separate rescue at sea operations. In 2016, there were a total of 18,904 migrants rescued off the Libyan coast.

For further information, please contact at IOM Libya, Othman Belbeisi, Tel: +216 29 600389, Email: obelbeisi@iom.int or Maysa Khalil, Tel: +216 29 600388, Email: mkhalil@iom.int