Irregular migrants in Libya are at risk of contracting infectious diseases, and international organizations are providing no assistance in this regard, officer Ramadan Al-Shaibani of the Libyan Anti-illegal Migration Agency told the London-based Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.
He said the disease is one of the leading causes of death among migrants in shelters, who face only four fates: To be seized and transferred to detention centers, intercepted at sea, die on the journey, or be lucky enough to reach the southern European shores.
"These (international) organizations have no excuse, as their teams visit the shelters and see the migrants' illness and suffering, often, the migrants arrive at the shelters with a weak body, and sometimes they are unable to walk."
Al-Shaibani indicated that international reports focus on overcrowding in shelters while turning a blind eye to the "modernly equipped centres" set up for women and children by the Libyan authorities through individual efforts.
For his part, a doctor in the migrant shelters in Tripoli, Abdel-Fattah Zammit, told the newspaper that the most common disease spreading among migrants is the coronavirus.
"Fortunately for immigrants, care for coronavirus patients has become available in shelters, but infection such as tuberculosis, which attacks the lungs and may infect other vital parts, including kidneys, brain, and spinal cord, require isolation," D. Zammit said, noting that the local health authorities lack medicines and vaccines for this disease.