Libya's Internal Security Agency (ISA) suspended the work permits of 10 international non-governmental organisations on Wednesday, accusing the groups of plotting to settle migrants of African origin in the country and of undermining national security.

A spokesperson for the ISA, Salem Gheith, told journalists the action targets NGOs the agency says have carried out "hostile actions" against Libya. Named groups include the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), Terre des Hommes and the Italian NGO CESVI — the first Italian aid organisation to enter Libya after the 2011 fall of Muammar Gaddafi. Six further organisations were also banned, Gheith said, without naming them.

Which groups have been suspended, and what did they do in Libya?

• Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC): present in Libya since 2017, main office in Tripoli; also operates in Tunis, Benghazi, Misrata, Ajdabiya and Tawergha; assisted 44,898 people in 2023 with shelter, cash grants and legal documentation.
• Doctors Without Borders (MSF): active in eastern and western Libya since 2011; ran 15,018 medical consultations, 3,024 mental-health consultations and 2,035 tuberculosis consultations in 2024; reached more than 50,000 people in 2023.
• Terre des Hommes: international children's rights organisation; specific Libya programming not detailed in the ISA statement.
• CESVI: Italian NGO, in Libya since 2011; runs Community Development Centres in Tripoli and Benghazi; partners with UNHCR and UNICEF on child protection, mental-health and economic support in Tripoli, Benghazi and Ben Walid.
• Six further NGOs: not named publicly by the ISA.

Why does Libya say it acted?

Gheith accused the European Union of "exploiting the instability" in Libya and using NGOs as a "tool" to push a resettlement agenda. The ISA also accused the groups of "money laundering" and of meddling in internal affairs.

Tripoli's authorities have publicly rejected any role as a transit or resettlement hub. In March, Interior Minister Imad Trabelsi said Libya "will not bear the burden of illegal immigration alone and will not become a resettlement zone," according to AFP.

When did the suspensions take effect?

MSF confirmed to InfoMigrants that its activities have been suspended since March 27, after ISA staff interrogated aid workers and sealed the organisation's premises. MSF said in an emailed statement:

"Since mid-March, the ISA has been summoning and interrogating the staff of international non-governmental organisations (INGOs) that provide care to migrants and refugees in Libya, as well as members of private medical clinics collaborating on these activities. Referrals to these health facilities have been stopped following orders by the ISA to end admissions of refugees and migrant patients."

How have diplomats responded?

The suspension followed a March 27 letter signed by 17 ambassadors — most of them from European countries — and a senior UN official, addressed to the ISA. The letter, seen by AFP, described an "ongoing crackdown" on NGOs and aid workers.

The diplomats said ISA agents summoned "at least 18 staff members from six international NGOs for questioning" and in some cases seized their passports. Several were asked to "resign from their positions" and to sign a written pledge never to work for an international NGO again.

What is the impact for migrants on the ground?

The UN puts the number of migrants in Libya at more than 700,000. Libyan officials claim the figure is higher. Libya also hosts around 56,674 refugees and 143,012 internally displaced people, in a population of roughly seven million.

The ambassadors warned the ISA that the suspensions would harm "the provision of humanitarian primary health assistance" and urged the authorities to let the agencies "reopen their offices and safely restart humanitarian operations as soon as possible."

The ISA reports to the Interior Ministry in Tripoli and operates in the western part of the country under the UN-recognised government. Eastern Libya is controlled by a separate administration led by General Khalifa Haftar.

What have aid groups said about conditions in Libya?

A February 12, 2025, MSF report described "extreme violence" and "exclusion from healthcare" for migrants in Libya, including kidnapping, extortion, trafficking and sexual abuse.

MSF's head of programs in Libya, Steve Purbrick, said: "people on the move are an integral part of an economic model set up by militias, with the complicity of the European Union and its member states, with the aim of extorting money from them."

Issam Abdullah, MSF's deputy medical manager in Libya, said migrants without protection face rapidly worsening injuries and traumas because access to care is "severely hampered."

What happens to the Libya-Italy humanitarian corridor?

MSF has used the Libya-Italy humanitarian corridor since 2021 to evacuate vulnerable patients, enabling the relocation of more than 700 people, of whom around 60 were former MSF patients. Purbrick said those evacuation pathways "need to be drastically increased." The corridor's future operation now depends on whether Libyan authorities lift the suspensions imposed on the screening NGOs.