IOM has resumed the evacuation of stranded migrants from the port
of Benghazi to the border crossing at Salum, in Egypt, after a
brief suspension caused by the deteriorating security conditions.

Yesterday, 24 March, IOM evacuated 146 Chadian and 4
Bangladeshis in a convoy of buses which reached Salum in the
evening. Another 646 Chadians are expected to be taken to the
Egyptian border in the next two days with other nationalities to be
assisted next week.

The resumption of the evacuations from Benghazi will be a big
relief to the many migrants stranded in the port area where they
are sheltering at the transit facility operated by the Libyan Red
Crescent.

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Before the suspension of evacuations on 16 March, IOM had
evacuated 2,159 migrants from the port area to Salum by road or by
sea to the Egyptian port of Alexandria. Once evacuated from Libya,
IOM assists non-Egyptian migrants to return home.

Meanwhile, the situation at the northern Niger town of Dirkou,
close to the Libyan border remains difficult. At least 12,000
people have arrived in Niger since the crisis began, more than half
of them in the past week.

IOM and the local police are jointly monitoring arrivals and
confirm that migrants are now crossing from Libya on a daily basis
in their hundreds if not thousands.

With such large numbers of arrivals potentially creating tension
in Dirkou which itself only has a population of 4,000, the
government is ensuring that frequent military escorts are organized
to escort IOM convoys carrying migrants from Dirkou to Agadez,
further south. From here, IOM provides assistance to both Nigerien
and other Sub-Saharan migrants to get to Niamey and final
destinations in other countries where applicable.

As more and more migrants cross into Niger, Chad also saw the
first group of migrants crossing its border with Libya this week
when 2,200 Chadian and other Sub-Saharan nationals arrived on
trucks at Faya Largeau and Oum Chalouba Kalait in the north of the
country. Others are expected to arrive from Koufra in Libya.

An inter-agency assessment including IOM will take place at the
Chadian border in the next few days to gauge needs and to find out
which are the main entry points in the country for migrants from
Libya.

An increasing number of Chadians have also managed to flee into
Egypt and Tunisia in the past few weeks. Nearly 1,700 of them have
been evacuated home by IOM, UNHCR and the Chadian government so
far, with the Chadian government organizing additional flights to
evacuate its nationals. With a large number of Chadians estimated
to be still living and working in Libya, it is likely that more and
more of them will need assistance to return home in the days and
weeks to come.

IOM's evacuation efforts of stranded migrants in the region are
continuing. By the end of this weekend, 70,000 migrants will have
been evacuated from Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Niger and Malta by IOM
with support from UNHCR and several governments.

Nearly 367,000 people have now crossed into Libya's neighbouring
countries since the crisis began.

For further information, please contact:

Jemini Pandya

IOM Geneva

Tel: +41 22 717 9486

       +41 79 217 3374

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

or

Jumbe Omari Jumbe

Tel: +41 22 717 9405

       +41 79 812 7734

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