A Filipino working in Libya gives his wife a kiss upon returning to Manila together with 50 other countrymen who were evacuated from the strife-torn North African state through the efforts of the Philippine government and their employers. JESS YUSON
MANILA, Philippines—The Philippines has appealed to the Geneva-based International Organization for Migration (IOM) for help in the evacuation of thousands of Filipino workers fleeing rebellion-torn Libya in what was described as a complex humanitarian operation.
Dozens of Filipinos arrived in Manila in small batches at the weekend from Paris, where they were flown by their respective companies after escaping violence in the North African country.
The arrivals included civil engineers, architects and other highly skilled workers repatriated by their Paris-based construction company, Vinci Grands Projets.
Civil engineer Pem Dapdap told reporters at Ninoy Aquino International Airport that “complete lawlessness” had gripped the Filipino neighborhood near Tripoli. “It’s terrifying there. A horrible situation!”
President Benigno Aquino III has said his administration is prepared, if necessary, to evacuate up to 13,000 of the estimated 26,000 mostly highly skilled Filipinos working in construction sites and remote oil fields in the Libyan desert. But he admitted that logistical problems hamper the effort.
Albay Gov. Joey Salceda last week urged Congress to pass an emergency supplemental budget of P750 million for the repatriation of Filipinos caught in armed conflicts abroad. He said the labor department’s budget of P50 million this year for the initiative was not enough.
“[The] IOM has received an official request from the authorities to assist in the evacuation of Filipino nationals currently in Libya,” said Jean-Philippe Chauzy, head of the IOM media office in Geneva, in an e-mail to the Inquirer. “We are working on fundraising to set up what will most likely be a complex operation.”
50,000 need aid
On Friday, the IOM issued an urgent initial appeal for $11 million to assist migrants caught in the violence in Libya and are in dire need of evacuation and repatriation assistance.
The amount would allow the organization to assist a first group of 10,000 migrants, although official requests by several countries to IOM to evacuate and repatriate their nationals could involve assisting at least 50,000 people, an IOM press statement said.
“The situation for migrants inside Libya is extremely difficult and we are deeply concerned about their plight,” said IOM Director General William Lacy Swing.
“We, therefore, urge donors to fund this appeal quickly. This would allow the IOM to assist and protect migrant workers who have crossed borders at great risk,” he added.
“Although the IOM is initially asking donors for $11 million, it is likely that this figure will be revised as the situation evolves and in order to help us meet the requests of not just governments, but also of individuals stranded inside Libya in frightening and worrying situations.”
In the summer of 2006, the IOM airlifted hundreds of Filipino workers from Lebanon in a renewed flare-up of violence. They were among 13,000 foreign workers assisted by IOM there at the time.
Assistance unclear
It is unclear at this point what kind of assistance the Aquino administration is providing the Filipino workers in Libya, where officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) are deployed in the troubled country, what emergency provisions are available to trapped workers, what arrangements are being put in place to bring them out, how this will be communicated in the vast African country, and how the department is managing all the complex little details involved in the emergency operation.
Because these workers are in touch with their families in the Philippines, the DFA should at least outline details of its evacuation program in Manila that could be relayed to their relatives in Libya.
Nothing of that sort has come out of the DFA.
Press statements coming out of the DFA in Manila are couched in general terms, no specifics on repatriation points or corridors in Libya.
The only visible manifestation of government involvement is the handing out of blue and red baseball caps from the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration to the arrivals at the Manila airport and the setting up of telephone booths, courtesy of Smart Communications, at the DFA where Filipinos can call relatives in Libya.
The DFA said a Philippine Air Force 150-seater C130 was on standby to ferry Filipinos to Tunis and Cairo.
1M Egyptians stranded
Among countries who have requested help from the IOM is Egypt, which is already carrying out unilateral evacuations of its nationals from Tunisia. However, with an estimated 1 million Egyptian migrant workers stranded in an increasingly volatile environment, its government has asked the IOM to help in their safe evacuation, the IOM said.
This would include assisting Egyptian migrants stranded in the Libyan port of Benghazi, about 600 kilometers from Egypt’s border, to get to the Egyptian port city of Alexandria by boat.
Assistance would involve providing support for travel to the embarkation point, issuing travel documents where necessary, sea transport, as well as reception and onward travel assistance to final destinations in Egypt.
Aside from the Philippines and Egypt, countries that have formally approached the IOM to help their nationals with evacuation or repatriation include Bangladesh, Moldova, Montenegro, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Vietnam.
Although IOM teams are at the Ras Adjir border point between Tunisia and Libya, and at Salum between Libya and Egypt, providing assistance to migrants and assessing needs, appeal funds would allow the IOM to immediately set up evacuee reception and processing centers at both sites for registration and assistance, the IOM said.
The centers would also serve as crisis information points, as well as staging areas for transport of migrants.
At least 40,000 people have already crossed into Tunisia and Egypt in the past few days with more arriving on a daily basis, the IOM said.
UN refugee agency
The UN refugee agency UNHCR on Friday also called on the international community to provide substantial humanitarian support for Tunisia and Egypt as the two North African countries try to cope with the influx of thousands of people from Libya. It said more than 100,000 people had fled to Egypt and Tunisia the past week.
The UNHCR’s chief spokesperson, Melissa Fleming, speaking to journalists in Geneva, also commended the “humanitarian spirit” shown by the Tunisian and Egyptian governments.
“We are seeing unprecedented support being offered by ordinary people who are driving to the borders of both countries to offer help.”
The interim government in Tunisia has declared that the country’s borders are open for all nationalities attempting to flee Libya.
Fleming said a small number of Libyans from border villages had crossed into Tunisia; the majority are being hosted by Tunisian families. “We are concerned that Libyans deeper inside the country and in the capital, Tripoli, are being prevented from fleeing,” she added.
The refugee agency has deployed two teams at the Ras Adjir border point. They are tasked with coordinating the relief effort with the Tunisian Red Crescent as well as identifying and supporting vulnerable cases such as older people and unaccompanied children.
The Tunisian military has also established a transit camp, which can currently accommodate up to 400 people. A supply of tents and other relief items was to be flown in by the UNHCR on Saturday to enable the camp to receive up to 10,000 people. Blankets and mattresses are being procured and distributed locally by the UNHCR.
(Editor’s Note: The writer is a former UNHCR staff member who has worked in major repatriation and refugee movements in the Balkans, the Middle East, Asia and Africa.)