Skip to content
The HALO Trust USA
Contact | Careers | Media | HALO Ukraine
Donate
  • What we do

    • What we do

    • Our work

      • Our work

      • Clearing explosives

      • Managing weapons and ammunition

      • Teaching safety

      • Responding to crisis

      • Empowering women

      • Protecting the environment

    Our work

    • Clearing explosives
    • Managing weapons and ammunition
    • Teaching safety
    • Responding to crisis
    • Empowering women
    • Protecting the environment
  • Where we work

    • Where we work

    • Africa

      • Africa

      • Angola

      • Ethiopia

      • Malawi

      • Mozambique

      • Somalia and Somaliland

      • Zimbabwe

      • Nigeria

      • Ghana

      • Cote D’Ivoire

      • Mauritania

      • Togo

      • Kenya

      • Guinea Bissau

    • Europe & Caucasus

      • Europe & Caucasus

      • Kosovo

      • Nagorno Karabakh

      • Ukraine

      • Moldova

    • Asia

      • Asia

      • Afghanistan

      • Cambodia

      • Laos

      • Myanmar

      • Solomon Islands

      • Sri Lanka

    • Latin America

      • Latin America

      • Colombia

      • El Salvador

      • Guatemala

      • Honduras

    • Middle East

      • Middle East

      • Libya

      • Syria

      • West Bank

      • Yemen

      • Iraq

    Africa

    • Angola
    • Ethiopia
    • Malawi
    • Mozambique
    • Somalia and Somaliland
    • Zimbabwe
    • Nigeria
    • Ghana
    • Cote D’Ivoire
    • Mauritania
    • Togo
    • Kenya
    • Guinea Bissau

    Europe & Caucasus

    • Kosovo
    • Nagorno Karabakh
    • Ukraine
    • Moldova

    Asia

    • Afghanistan
    • Cambodia
    • Laos
    • Myanmar
    • Solomon Islands
    • Sri Lanka

    Latin America

    • Colombia
    • El Salvador
    • Guatemala
    • Honduras

    Middle East

    • Libya
    • Syria
    • West Bank
    • Yemen
    • Iraq
  • About us

    • About us

    • Who we are

      • Who we are

      • History of HALO

      • Leadership team

      • Partners

    • Governance

      • Governance

      • Trustees

      • Reports

    Who we are

    • History of HALO
    • Leadership team
    • Partners

    Governance

    • Trustees
    • Reports
  • Get involved

    • Get involved

    • Give

      • Give

      • Donate

      • Donate monthly

      • Legacy giving

      • Corporate giving

      • Fundraising promise

      • Raise money

    • Join us

      • Join us

      • Email newsletter

    • Advocate

      • Advocate

      • Sign up and take action

      • NextGen Advocacy Network

      • Bipartisan Congressional UXO/Demining Caucus

      • Advocacy partners

    Give

    • Donate
    • Donate monthly
    • Legacy giving
    • Corporate giving
    • Fundraising promise
    • Raise money

    Join us

    • Email newsletter

    Advocate

    • Sign up and take action
    • NextGen Advocacy Network
    • Bipartisan Congressional UXO/Demining Caucus
    • Advocacy partners
  • Latest

    • Latest

    • HALO updates

      • HALO updates

      • News

      • Stories

      • Historias de America Latina

    HALO updates

    • News
    • Stories
    • Historias de America Latina
  • Contact

  • Careers

  • Media

  • HALO Ukraine

Donate

No Place to Call Home

11th March 2021 | Libya | Clearing explosives

On the morning of April 4, 2019, Marwa heard the sound of bullets being fired at the wall of her house in Tripoli. When one of the bullets nearly hit her son, Marwa realised it was a warning. They needed to evacuate the area. Immediately.

With no time to collect valuables or important documents, Marwa gathered up her five children and fled. Nearly two years later, the family has been unable to return home.

For 14 months fighting continued to rage across Libya’s capital. Reports indicated civilian infrastructure was increasingly being targeted—with 18 attacks on medical facilities across Libya between January and May 2020 alone. Like Marwa, over 200,000 families were forced to flee their homes.

For Marwa and her children it has been months of upheaval. Initially she stayed with family but had to move to a hotel due to lack of space. When money started to run short, the family found cheaper accommodation east of Tripoli, in the Suq Aljumaa district near Mitiga airport.

But with the ever shifting line of contact, no place was safe. Armed militia started to target the airport and, once again, the family had to escape. Marwa didn’t want to go to the government shelter—fearful for her young daughters in such a crowded space, lacking any privacy.

Living in a Garage

Today the family are living in a tiny 3x6 metre garage in Gargarish. There is no ventilation and it is not fit for habitation—but they have no choice. Marwa’s savings have been depleted by the past months and she is frightened to return home.

"I am still afraid that there will be a mine or an unexploded object in the garden of my house that is not visible to the eye."
Marwa, Tripoli, Libya

The neighbourhood streets are strewn with landmines and explosives. There have been accidents. A man was killed and his son injured when a mine exploded at the side of the road. Marwa's once beautiful home has no doors or windows, all the possessions they left behind have been stolen. There is no water and the electricity has been cut off.

Marwa and thousands of other families are in a desperate situation. When fighting ended in Tripoli in June 2020, many tried to return home. But it is dangerous. By the end of the year there were over 200 recorded accidents, caused by landmines, anti-vehicle mines, trip wires and explosives.

Rebuilding from the Rubble

As soon as the fighting stopped in June 2020, HALO began work along the former frontlines—identifying explosives and marking them so they can be removed. We are training teams right now so they can clear Tripoli’s battlefields, allowing families like Marwa’s to return home safely.

The United States Government
The United States Government
European Union
European Union
The German Federal Foreign Office
The German Federal Foreign Office
The UK Government
The UK Government
Share this article

Get Involved

  • Donate
  • Raise money
  • Advocate

Get in touch

  • Contact
  • Media enquiries
Sitemap | Terms of use | Privacy policy USA | Cookie policy
The HALO Trust USA | Copyright © 2025
Sign Up To Our Newsletter
Visit the HALO Trust website

CARRONFOOT, THORNHILL, DUMFRIES, DG3 5BF

The HALO Trust is a company limited by guarantee. Registered in England No. 2228587. Registered Charity No. 1001813 and (in Scotland) SC037870. Registered Office: One Bartholomew Close, Barts Square, London EC1A 7BL

The HALO Trust (USA), Inc. is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization US Federal Tax ID Number 52-2158152
Office: 1730 Rhode Island Ave NW, Suite 206, Washington, DC 20036 

By registering for our updates, or making a donation to us, you expressly agree to your information being used by The HALO Trust and The HALO Trust (USA), Inc. in accordance with our privacy protection policy. You can unsubscribe at any time.

You are currently on our US & Canadian website.

Visit www.halotrust.org