6 March 2011 Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the United Nations humanitarian http://www.nefga.org/forum/entry.php?486 chief on Sunday called for urgent and unimpeded access to areas of Libya affected http://www.nefga.org/forum/entry.php?921 by violence, particularly in the western part of the country.
“The http://www.nefga.org/forum/entry.php?325 Secretary-General is deeply concerned about the fighting in western Libya, which http://www.nefga.org/forum/entry.php?693 is claiming large numbers of lives and threatens even more carnage in the days http://www.nefga.org/forum/entry.php?1118 ahead,” Mr. Ban's spokesperson said in a http://www.nefga.org/forum/entry.php?1344 statement.
“He notes that civilians are bearing the brunt of the http://www.nefga.org/forum/entry.php?1606 violence, and calls for an immediate halt to the Government's http://www.nefga.org/forum/entry.php?598 disproportionate use of force and indiscriminate attacks on civilian http://www.nefga.org/forum/entry.php?1483 targets.”
Mr. Ban discussed the “increasingly troubling http://www.nefga.org/forum/entry.php?416 humanitarian situation” with Libyan Foreign Minister Musa Kusa in a http://www.nefga.org/forum/entry.php?1421 telephone conversation today, in which he also called on the authorities http://www.nefga.org/forum/entry.php?1413 “to uphold their responsibility to protect the country's http://www.nefga.org/forum/entry.php?1099 citizens and to heed the Libyan people's legitimate aspirations to live in http://www.nefga.org/forum/entry.php?1511 dignity and peace.”
The Secretary-General has appointed the former http://www.nefga.org/forum/entry.php?939 foreign minister of Jordan, Abdul Elah al-Khatib, as his Special Envoy to Libya to http://www.nefga.org/forum/entry.php?697 undertake urgent consultations with the authorities in Tripoli and in the region http://www.nefga.org/forum/entry.php?1542 on the immediate humanitarian situation as well as the wider dimensions of the http://www.nefga.org/forum/entry.php?650 crisis.
Meanwhile, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs http://www.nefga.org/forum/entry.php?1405 (OCHA) said it has received reports that the western city of Misrata is under http://www.nefga.org/forum/entry.php?924 attack by Government forces and that the Libyan Red Crescent is trying to get http://www.nefga.org/forum/entry.php?1517 ambulances in from the capital, Tripoli, to collect the dead and http://www.nefga.org/forum/entry.php?734 injured.
“Humanitarian organizations need urgent access now. People http://www.nefga.org/forum/entry.php?1644 are injured and dying and need help immediately,” said http://www.nefga.org/forum/entry.php?388 Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator http://www.nefga.org/forum/entry.php?363 Valerie Amos. “I call on the authorities to provide access without delay http://www.nefga.org/forum/entry.php?1214 to allow aid workers to help save lives.”
Ms. Amos travelled yesterday http://www.nefga.org/forum/entry.php?758 to the Tunisia-Libya border to review the ongoing relief effort for people fleeing http://www.nefga.org/forum/entry.php?1667 Libya amid the recent violence.
Since Libyan leader Muammar Al-Qadhafi started http://www.nefga.org/forum/entry.php?787 the violent repression of protesters demanding his ouster several weeks ago, over http://www.nefga.org/forum/entry.php?675 100,000 people, many of them migrant workers, have fled to Tunisia, and a similar http://www.nefga.org/forum/entry.php?1340 number to Egypt.
OCHA said that since Libyan authorities took control of the http://www.nefga.org/forum/entry.php?1617 border crossing into Tunisia, the number of people crossing has dropped to several http://www.nefga.org/forum/entry.php?1463 hundred per day, compared to about 20,000 at its peak several days ago.
People http://www.nefga.org/forum/entry.php?922 crossing the border have reported that they have faced intimidation as they have http://www.nefga.org/forum/entry.php?926 tried to leave Libya. Ms. Amos stressed that freedom of movement is a fundamental http://www.nefga.org/forum/entry.php?653 human right that must be respected under all circumstances.
During her visit to http://www.nefga.org/forum/entry.php?1503 the border areas, she thanked Governments, aid agencies, host families and http://www.nefga.org/forum/entry.php?636 communities in neighbouring countries, especially Tunisia and Egypt, for their http://www.nefga.org/forum/entry.php?496 support to those leaving Libya.
On Monday in Geneva, Ms. Amos will launch the http://www.nefga.org/forum/entry.php?1678 regional flash appeal covering Libya, Tunisia, Egypt and Niger. It will focus on the border areas, population movements, humanitarian needs, security, health, water, protection and communication, and will cover a three-month period.
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