The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies is appealing for urgent help. “This is a calamity of epic proportions”, said a spokeswoman for the World Health Organization (WHO). This is particularly true of Derna, the worst-hit city, where entire neighborhoods have disappeared.

We, Maghrebian immigration, human rights and international solidarity organizations, are deeply saddened by the scale of this tragedy. In these painful circumstances, we offer our most sincere condolences to the Libyan people and to all the bereaved families.

This tragedy on such a huge scale is the result of the authorities’ failure to maintain the two dams that burst, taking the lives of thousands of Libyan citizens.

We consider that Libyans have been left to their own devices because, since 2015, several military factions have been vying for power, thereby endangering, if not holding hostage, civilian populations.

The international community must ultimately understand that the adventurous and hypocritical management of the country, the repeated interference of foreign powers and the divisions at the top of the Libyan state are mortifying. Non-governance and the absence of the rule of law have led to a failure to anticipate, prevent and respond to natural disasters.

We, the Maghreb organizations, are in solidarity with the Libyan people, and we intend to work with Libyan civil society organizations in the short and medium term to set up inter-Maghreb solidarity projects.

We demand that the Libyan authorities :

– to assume all their responsibilities, to do everything in their power to provide urgent assistance to the stricken families, and to help them bury their dead with dignity;

– to requisition rescue services in all affected areas, while facilitating the work, transport and access of support organizations to the affected areas;

– draw all the lessons from these deadly floods, and put national reconciliation, peace and the unity of the country at the heart of their concerns, to avoid further suffering for the Libyan people.

For a united, free and independent Libya!

For a united Maghreb of peoples!

Paris September 14, 2023

Signatory organizations
– Agir pour le changement et la démocratie en Algérie (Act for Change and Democracy in Algeria) (ACDA)
– APEL-Egalité (Apel-Equality)
– Association de défense des droits de l’Homme au Maroc (Association for the Defense of Human Rights in Morocco) (ASDHOM)
– Association démocratique des Tunisiens en France (Democratic Association of Tunisians in France) (ADTF)
– Association des familles des prisonniers et disparus sahraouis (Association of Families of Sahrawi Prisoners and Disappeared) (AFAPREDESA)
– Association Imsouhal Azetta (Imsouhal Azetta Association)
– Association Khamsa solidaire ici et ailleurs (Khamsha Association in Solidarity here and there)
– Association des Marocains en France (Association of Moroccans in France) (AMF)
– Association des travailleurs maghrébins en France (Association of Maghrebi Workers in France) (ATMF)
– Association N’aoura-Bruxelles (Belgique) (N’aoura Association) (Belgium)
– Centre euro-méditerranéen migration et développement Emcemo (Pays-Bas) (Euro-Mediterranean Center for Migration and Development Emcemo) (Netherlands)
– Collectif 3C (3c Collective)
– Collectif Groupe Algérie Droit Devant (CGADD) (Algeria Straight ahead Collective)
– Collectif Libérons l’Algérie Let’s liberate Algeria Collective)
– Comité de citoyens algériens en France pour une Assemblée constituante (CCAF-AC) (Committee of Algerian citizens in France for a Constituent Assembly)
– Comité pour le respect des libertés et des droits de l’homme en Tunisie (Committee for the Respect of Freedoms and Human Rights in Tunisia) (CRLDHT)
– Confédération générale des travailleurs de Mauritanie (General Confederation of Mauritanian Workers) (CGTM)
– Espace associatif Maroc (Associative space Morocco)
– Ettayar France
– Ettakattol France
– Etudiants nord-africains de France (ENAF) (North African students in France)
– Fédération des Tunisiens citoyens des deux rive (Federation of Tunisian Citizens from Both Shores) (FTCR)
– Femmes plurielles (Plural Women)
– Forum marocain des alternatifs sud (FMAS) (Moroccan Alternative Forum SouthCliquez pour utiliser cette solution)
– Institut Mehdi Ben Barka – Mémoire vivante (Mehdi Ben Barka Institute - Living Memory)
– Ligue algérienne de défense des droits de l’Homme (Algerian League for the Defense of Human Rights) (LADDH)
– Réseau euro-méditerranéen citoyenneté et culture (Euro-Mediterranean Network for Citizenship and Culture) (REMCC)
– Riposte internationale (International Strike Back)
– Solidarité médicale Algérie (Medical Solidarity Algeria) (Solidem)
– SOS Migrants-Bruxelles (SOS Migrants-Brussels)
– Union des travailleurs immigrés tunisiens (Union of Tunisian Immigrant Workers) (UTIT)