Officials Limit Media & Aid Groups in Libya’s Derna

Libyan officials have begun to restrict access among reporters and aid groups to rescue and relief operations in Derna, following protests over the response by authorities to violent floods that swept away entire neighborhoods and left thousands of people dead. Journalists and aid organizations objected Tuesday to official demands that they stay back, amid a general sense of confusion over what degree of access would continue to be permitted. A UN team “was due to travel from Benghazi to Derna today but were not authorized to proceed,” Najwa Mekki, a spokesperson for OCHA, a UN humanitarian office, said in a statement to The Washington Post. “Unimpeded, sustained access is essential for humanitarians to do their life-saving work.” She said that rescue, emergency medical and other UN teams on the ground continued to operate.

After some reporters on the ground said Tuesday that they had been asked to leave eastern Libya, Hichem Abu Chkiouat, civil aviation minister in the government that runs eastern Libya, denied that orders had been issued to evacuate journalists. Reporters for Arabic-language channels said authorities told journalists on Monday night they must leave the city entirely by Tuesday. A reporter from al-Hurra said they were told to leave by 8 a.m. Tuesday, and Al Jazeera said it received a 1 p.m. deadline. Abu Chkiouat said in an appearance on local Libyan channel al-Ahrar that some media personnel had been asked to clear away from search-and-rescue attempts, but only to allow rescue teams to carry out their jobs.

Journalists expressed confusion over their status and concern that authorities could be trying to suppress news of dissent in one of the least accessible reporting environments in the region, as unrest grew over culpability for the dam collapses that led to floods. Stefanie Glinski, a journalist for Foreign Policy magazine, wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, that she was “waiting to see whether we might be able to get permission to report again.” The impulse to limit foreign access to a disaster area can be born of an effort to avoid criticism. After Morocco turned down aid offers following this month’s earthquake, analysts said that international scrutiny was a source of anxiety for the state.

Libya is ruled by two factions. Derna is in the territory controlled by Khalifa Hifter, who rules the country’s east as the head of Libyan National Army. In the west, the UN-supported Government of National Accord rules from Tripoli, the capital. The city was among the worst hit by last Monday’s Mediterranean Storm Daniel. Local government officials had been calling for an evacuation for days, citing health concerns from the estimated thousands of bodies still to be retrieved.