Filipinos in Syria, Senegalese in Libya, Repatriated with IOM’s Help
Syria - IOM this week continued to evacuate vulnerable migrants from war-torn Syria. On Monday (9/3), 25 Filipino workers departed Damascus shortly before noon for Beirut’s international airport. They are scheduled to arrive in Manila today.
With these departures, since the beginning of the crisis in Syria, IOM Damascus has assisted in the repatriation of 2,210 Filipino workers. IOM will send 22 more workers home to the Philippines starting next week. They are expected to leave Damascus on March 16th and arrive in Manila the following day.
IOM has this month also stepped up its assisted voluntary return activities in Libya. On Thursday, March 5th, 138 Senegalese migrants detained in Misurata, Libya, were evacuated through a border crossing at Binquerdan, Tunisia, flying to Dakar on a Nouvel Air charter in the pre-dawn hours of March 6th.
The evacuation brought to 271 the number of Senegalese migrants safely leaving Libya with IOM’s help, partnering with the Libyan Red Crescent and the Government of Tunisia. Another evacuation of 130 Senegalese men from Libya is scheduled for later this month. The evacuations from Libya are funded by the European Union (EU) and the Government of Norway.
The European Union-funded “START” project: “Stabilizing at risk communities and enhancing migration management to enable smooth transition in Egypt, Libya and Tunisia” has invested nearly EUR 10 million in the region since 2012.
The Norwegian government-funded project: "Return and reintegration assistance for migrants stranded in Egypt and Libya" started in December 2013 and has contributed NOK 4.1 million (EUR 478,000) to IOM return assistance from Libya and Egypt.
Since the beginning of 2014, IOM has assisted a total of 658 third country nationals who requested voluntary repatriation from Libya. Besides the two recent evacuations of Senegalese – which began on February 27th – another 4,176 third country nationals remain in the IOM pipeline.
Among other nationalities assisted by IOM to date include Sudanese (85), Sri Lankans (75), Pakistanis (41), Nigerians (36), Yemenis (34), Kenyans (31) and Ethiopians (21).
For further information please contact
Elias Amjeh
IOM Damascus
Tel: +963 (11) 6121370 / 75
Email: eamjeh@iom.int
or
Othman Belbeisi
IOM Libya
Tel + 216 29 600 389
Email: Obelbeisi@iom.int