An IOM operation to airlift hundreds of vulnerable stranded Chadian
migrants out of the Southern Libyan town of Sebha to return them to
the Chadian capital N'Djamena has been successfully completed.

The operation, which ended on 30 July, provided evacuation
assistance to 1,398 vulnerable Chadian migrants and other third
country nationals, including many women, children and elderly who
fled areas around Tripoli, Misrata, Benghazi and Sebha.

"The migrants we found just over a month ago were exhausted
after having spent weeks wandering and living in the open with
limited access to food, water and health services," says IOM's Dr.
Qasim Sufi, who oversaw the ten flights out of Sebha. "Despite
their ordeal, the migrants were thankful for the support they
received from the local population and authorities. They expressed
gratitude for the efforts deployed by the IOM to help them return
home safely.

Prior to their departure, the migrants were transferred to an
IOM transit centre in Sebha where they were provided with food,
water and shelter. Medical checks carried out with the support of
the Libyan Red Crescent. The registration of the mostly
undocumented migrants was carried out by Chadian and other consular
officials in cooperation with the local Libyan authorities and
IOM.

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The returnees were met on arrival in N'Djamena by IOM staff and
were provided with food, shelter and assistance to return to their
towns and villages primarily in the capital N'Djamena as well as
the regions of Kanem, Ouaddai and Guera.

War-wounded returnees were referred directly to the
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in N'Djamena to
ensure appropriate medical and surgical treatment if required.

"This humanitarian airlift provided a way out for all those who
simply didn't have the means or the strength to return home," says
Sufi. "We shall continue to regularly monitor the situation in
Sebha with our partners to find out if more migrants request
evacuation assistance over the coming weeks."

More than 78,000 Chadian migrants have retuned from Libya over
the past five months, most of the time, empty-handed. Their
homecoming means that remittances they used to send back to their
families in Chad have also dried up, making them even more
vulnerable at a time of worsening food insecurity.

IOM's assessment and evacuation operation from Sebha is funded
by the European Commission's Humanitarian and Civil Aid department
(ECHO) and the German government.

For further information, please contact:

IOM's Qasim Sufi, in Sebha, Libya

Tel: +235 62 90 06