Page 292 - A Helping Hand for Refugees

infrastructure such as water and sewage disposal, of vital importance
to the people. Civilian deaths have begun rising as a result of ongoing
armed fighting in the city centers.

Sad to say, oil and natural gas production in the country, which
is in fact quite resource-rich, is almost at a standstill. Despite their
resources and wealth, some regions have even had to begin importing
oil and natural gas.

It was the UN decision to intervene in 2011 that has brought Libya
to the position in which it is today. The UN has now bestirred itself
and is trying to unite the different sides because the surrounding coun-
tries are now being affected, and particularly Europe owing to the

impact of a wave of migration, the biggest mass movement of people
since the Second World War. But how successful can it be in doing that?

The UN wishes to bring together the two main powers in the
country, the House of Representatives in Tobruk and the General
National Congress in Tripoli; these two are the most settled of the var-
ious administrations in the country. However, since they lack full
authority, even in the areas which they control, their impact on the local

290 A Helping Hand for Refugees