IOM will today fly home some 2,180 Bangladeshi migrant workers who
fled the conflict in Libya from Egypt and Tunisia in addition to
large groups of Vietnamese and Ghanaian migrants.

In Tunisia, where there are still about 13,000 Bangladeshis at
Choucha camp near the Ras Adjir border, 1,264 will leave on IOM
charter flights from Djerba.

A group of 516 Bangladeshis who left Libya by road via Egypt's
Sallum border crossing will leave on IOM three charter flights in
the course of the day from Marsa Matroh, 230 kms east of the
border.

A further 372, who arrived in Alexandria yesterday on an
IOM-chartered ferry from Benghazi in Libya, will fly home directly
from Alexandria airport.

While today's evacuations were welcomed by the nearly 3,700
Bangladeshis still stranded on the Egyptian border, IOM will need
to charter at least 20 more similar flights from Egypt alone to get
them home, even if there are no new arrivals from Libya.

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However, IOM sources in Libya and passengers on the ferry from
Benghazi which docked in Alexandria yesterday indicate that there
are thousands more foreigners, including Bangladeshis in the city,
who may decide to leave if conditions deteriorate.

Two more IOM charters carrying nearly 340 more Bangladeshis are
scheduled to fly out of Marsa Matroh tomorrow, Wednesday, with an
estimated 1,200 more to fly from Djerba.

IOM is also evacuating 342 Vietnamese on charter flights from
Tunisia and 543 Ghanaians from both Tunisia and Egypt. In addition,
it is assisting in the evacuation of 788 more Ghanaians on Spanish
and Belgian supported flights.

For the migrants, evacuations cannot happen fast enough.
Conditions at the Sallum border post in Egypt's Western Desert are
basic and many of the migrants have been sleeping in the open for
nearly two weeks, despite bitterly cold nights and strong
winds.

Others have been sleeping in cramped, insanitary conditions in
arrival and departure halls, toilet blocks, bus shelters and
wherever else they can find warmth in the bleak Egyptian
immigration compound.

IOM, which has been present in the compound for nine days,
provides food, water, basic medical services, consular support and
onward transportation. Other agencies now providing support include
ICRC, UNHCR, UNICEF and NGOs, including Catholic Relief Services,
Islamic Relief, the Egyptian Food Bank and Samaritan's Purse.

The Tunisian border crossing at Ras Adjir, where a few thousand
migrants are still crossing on a daily basis and a transit camp
housing migrants waiting to be evacuated will be visited later
today by IOM Director General William Lacy Swing and the UN High
Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres.

On the first of a two-day visit to Tunisia aimed at seeing
first-hand the humanitarian situation and the challenges posed by
such a massive outflow of migrants to Libya's neighbours, the two
heads of organization will also be meeting the Tunisian president,
various government ministers and the president of the Tunisian Red
Crescent to thank them for their continued support to migrants and
Libyans who have arrived in such difficult and traumatic
circumstances.

About 215,000 migrants have crossed Libya's borders with
Tunisia, Egypt and Niger since 20th February.

For further information, please contact:

In Ras Adjir/Djerba, Tunisia,

Jean Philippe Chauzy

Tel: +41 79 285 4366

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

or

Jumbe Omari Jumbe

Tel: +41 79 812 7734

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

In Alexandria/Salum, Egypt,

Chris Lom

Tel: +20101761.308

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

In Geneva, Switzerland,

Jemini Pandya

Tel: +41 22 717 9486

       +41 79 217 3374

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