More than 1,200 African migrants who have been seeking refuge at an
IOM transit centre in the southern Libyan city of Sebha are being
evacuated to Chad, ending weeks of uncertainty and fear over their
future.

The migrants, part of a large group of several thousand who had
arrived at the centre as the battle for control of Sebha began,
left on a convoy of 15 trucks on Sunday 2nd October, accompanied by
the Chadian Deputy Consul and Chadian and Nigerian community
elders.

After stopping briefly in Gatroun, the migrants will be heading
initially for Zouarké on the Chadian/Niger border on a
journey that will take about a week. There, they will be met by IOM
staff at its way station where the migrants will be provided with
fresh supplies of food and water, as well as given medical
assistance and shelter.

From Zouarké, IOM staff will escort the convoy to Faya
Largeau where further assistance will be given to the migrants
before they are taken to their final destinations either inside
Chad or elsewhere in Africa.

There migrants being evacuated with support from the US, Germany
and the European Community's Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection
office (ECHO) represent 11 different nationalities. Just over half
of the 1,206 on the convoy are Chadians with the remainder of the
migrants from Nigeria, Gambia, Eritrea, Somalia, Sudan, Senegal,
Mali, Ethiopia, Burkina Faso and Morocco. Among them are women and
children.

"It has been an extremely worrying few weeks for the migrants.
They had been caught in the middle of this conflict for control of
Sebha. The fighting had prevented us from getting supplies into our
centre in the town and in getting the migrants out. Thankfully,
this is no longer the case," says IOM Chief of Mission in Chad,
Qasim Sufi. "The migrants are extremely relieved that they will now
be able to get home and put this experience behind them."

Another group of several hundred migrants of various different
nationalities are still in Sebha awaiting evacuation
assistance.

For further information, please contact:

In Chad, Qasim Sufi

Tel: + 235 62 90 0674

E-mail: "mailto:qsufi@iom.int">qsufi@iom.int

In Geneva

Jemini Pandya

Tel: + 41 22 717 9486

       + 41 79 217 3374

E-mail: "mailto:jpandya@iom.int">jpandya@iom.int

or

Jumbe Omari Jumbe

Tel: + 41 22 717 9405

       + 41 79 812 7734

E-mail: "mailto:jjumbe@iom.int">jjumbe@iom.int