British Red Cross makes £150,000 Libya donation

25 February 2011

©Reuters/ AlertnetThe British Red Cross has made an initial donation of £150,000 from its Disaster Fund to help people affected by the unrest in Libya.

It will help ensure there is adequate surgical and medical care for the wounded and emergency aid for people who have fled from Libya into neighbouring Tunisia and Egypt.

The money is in support of the emergency appeal launched for Libya by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

Two planeloads of ICRC medical supplies were due to leave Geneva, Switzerland, on Friday night – one bound for Cairo and the other for Tunis. The ICRC plans to move these supplies into Libya by road as quickly as possible.

"The reports we're getting indicate that the humanitarian situation inside Libya is worsening by the hour," said the ICRC's deputy director of operations, Dominik Stillhart. "We're very concerned about the growing number of people who are leaving their homes in search of safety and trying to cross the border.”

British Red Cross response

British Red Cross staff and volunteers worked through the night of 24 February and during 25 February at London Gatwick Airport, meeting people returning from Libya and offering support as required, including transport home to vulnerable people and their families. More flights are expected on 26 February, to which the same support will be offered.

A British Red Cross psycho-social support team is aboard HMS Cumberland, the Royal Navy ship which picked up around 200 people from Libya on 24 February. The team, there at the request of the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, is there to provide practical and emotional support as required to passengers.

Donate to the Disaster Fund

via redcross.org.uk