Exit routes closing fast for OFWs in Libya – DFA

MANILA, Philippines - Filipinos in Libya should leave the strife-torn country as soon as they can as exit routes are closing fast, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said yesterday.

“The DFA is appealing with urgency to those who have not made the decision to be repatriated to please consider doing so as the avenues of repatriation are quickly diminishing,” the DFA said.

The Philippine government identified Egypt or Tunisia as exit routes for the Filipinos as all major airports have closed due to the deteriorating situation in the North African country.

The DFA was able to contract a ship that would travel from Malta to fetch repatriates from Benghazi, Misrata and possibly Tripoli. The ship would sail back to Malta where the repatriated Filipinos can catch flights to Manila.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario, who flew to Tunisia on Thursday to personally oversee the repatriation of Filipinos, met on Friday with some of the 95 Filipinos ready to be repatriated from Libya.

He urged the workers to convince their friends and co-workers who are still in Libya to join the mandatory evacuation.

He said the border crossing between Tunisia and Libya was closed earlier in the day because of a shooting incident on July 31 amid the chaos sparked by the surge of refugees fleeing Libya.

The border crossing from Libya to Egypt in As Salloum has been closed for some months now. Major airports are abandoned.

The DFA said the 95 Filipino evacuees crossed the Tunisian border of Ras Ajdir on July 31.

They traveled by bus to the island of Djerba, over 120 kilometers from the border, where they are staying while awaiting their flights to Manila possibly today.

Del Rosario said a Rapid Response Team (RRT) comprising representatives from the DFA, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), the Philippine National Police (PNP), as well as from relevant foreign service posts, is working round-the-clock to repatriate Filipinos in Libya.

Over the last few weeks, about 800 Filipinos have been repatriated. There were over 200 Filipinos in the Philippine embassy in Tripoli being processed for repatriation. The number is reportedly rapidly increasing.

A Filipina nurse was abducted and raped in Tripoli on Wednesday. The Filipina was abducted in front of her residence by four Libyan youth and taken to an undisclosed place where she was raped.

A Filipino construction worker was kidnapped and beheaded by armed militia group in Benghazi last July 15.

The Filipino was allegedly singled out because he was non-Muslim.

The DFA set the alert level for the Libyan crisis at No. 4, the highest crisis alert, following the abduction and beheading of the Filipino worker. Under an Alert Level 4, the government undertakes immediate evacuation of Filipinos from a country in turmoil.

Del Rosario said the challenges facing the Philippine embassy in Libya were almost the same ones it hurdled in 2011 when a mandatory evacuation of Filipinos was carried out due to rising violence in the country.

The Philippine embassy in Tripoli may be reached at:

KM 7 Gargaresh Road, Abu Nawas

P.O. Box 12508, Tripoli, Libya

Telephone numbers (00218) 918-244-208

E--mail addresses [email protected] and [email protected].

The DFA also released hotlines numbers (02) 552-7105 / (02) 834-4685. The DFA may also be reached via [email protected].

Meanwhile, 60 Filipino workers repatriated from Libya are beginning to arrive in Manila until tomorrow, Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said yesterday.

Baldoz noted 22 of the workers were to arrive yesterday afternoon in two batches.

“We have the master list of the names of the new repatriates. Officers of the Repatriation Assistance Division of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) and representatives of the Libya Quick Reaction Team headed by Philippine Overseas Employment Administration chief Hans Leo Cacdac will be at the airport to ensure that the returnees get proper assistance,” she said. – Sheila Crisostomo