This archive report was first published on 25 December 2019.
Since April, when forces loyal to eastern-based strongman Khalifa Haftar launched an assault on Tripoli, the Libyan capital, over 140,000 Libyans have been forced to flee their homes.
Among them is Layla Mohammed, a mother of seven who barely had time to gather her children's belongings before fleeing their southern Tripoli home when shelling targeted the city's outskirts.
For months, Mohammed moved her family between apartments as soaring rents in the crowded city exhausted her savings, eventually leaving them squatting in an unfinished building alongside dozens of other families.
"We live like animals -- without running water, electricity, or even sewerage," Mohammed said, her youngest son suffering from a chronic respiratory illness that she fears will be exacerbated by the dust.
"All we want is to live in dignity," she added.
As the conflict drags on, the situation for displaced families has only worsened. In central Tripoli, a high-rise construction site abandoned since 2008 due to a property dispute now hosts over 170 families.
"For some, the high rises in Tarik al-Sekka were 'a gift from heaven'," said a resident, "since the alternative was living in the street."
However, the reality is far from ideal, with families forced to live in squalid conditions without basic amenities.
"We try to distribute donated items in a fair manner," said Salem el-Chatti, a member of a neighbourhood support group that has been responding to heartfelt pleas online.
Despite the efforts of civic-minded residents, the government has done little to help, with authorities admitting that they have offered the displaced nothing, not even moral support.
"The government has offered them nothing, not even moral support," said Mayssoun al-Diab, in charge of displacement issues for the GNA's crisis committee.
