The Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières) organization announced on Thursday that it will end medical activities in Tripoli, Libya, where it provided healthcare to "migrants, asylum seekers and refugees held in detention centres and to those living in precarious conditions in urban settings."

The organization said in press releases that "activities will come to an end as of today, while our support in Tripoli to the National Programme on Tuberculosis and at Abu-Setta Hospital for respiratory diseases, will cease at the end of this year." 

Adding that the decision to close medical activities in Tripoli follows an "extensive review of our humanitarian responses globally and a process of financial reprioritisation." 

“We regret that we have had to take the difficult decision to end our medical activities in Tripoli, knowing that this will have an impact on people’s access to medical care. We have not taken this decision lightly,” said operations manager Djoen Besselink. 

Doctors Without Border has operated in Tripoli since 2016.

It said that the announcement was made "against the backdrop of access issues that have affected our medical activities in Tripoli along with an increasingly challenging environment for international organisations in the country."

The organization noted that it will continue to work in the Misrata Chest Respiratory Hospital.

“Our work continues in the regions of Misrata and Zuwara, where we provide general healthcare, mental health counselling, and sexual and reproductive healthcare in public health facilities, detention centres, prisons, and urban settings.” 

Doctors Without Borders began working in Libya in 2011.