Migrants Continue to be Vulnerable in Libyan Conflict
The on-going conflict and political stalemate in Libya has left
migrants in a situation of continued vulnerability, with large
groups stranded across the country.
During an assessment of the humanitarian needs in various parts
of Libya, IOM staff reported on the plight of a large community of
mostly African and Filipino migrant workers sheltering in two sites
in the capital, Tripoli.
Staff say some of the migrants have been without jobs since the
beginning of the crisis as their employers had left the country.
Feeling they have nothing to return to, they stay on in Libya in
the vain hope that they may receive back pay from their employers
or find another job. Others have been left to take care of
employers' properties but have not been paid since February.
The majority, from Ghana, Togo, Sudan, Nigeria, Cameroon and
other African countries, are unskilled and undocumented
workers.
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Like the others, they are dependent on whatever food and shelter
people of goodwill from within and outside their community can
provide with some basic food prices having increased by up to three
times since the start of the crisis.
Although the numbers of migrants managing to flee Libya on a
daily basis have slowed down in recent weeks, migrants continue to
be stranded in towns and cities around the country.
The Malian Ambassador to Tripoli estimates between 8,000 to
10,000 of his compatriots remain in western Libya, mostly in Sabha,
Gadames, Ubari and Murzuk, while the vulnerability of Sub-Saharan
Africans in the eastern part of the country has led to Malians
there fleeing into Egypt.
Thousands of Egyptian migrants are also believed to be still in
the country, according to the Egyptian Ambassador to Tripoli. While
most are thought to be in the south in cities such as Gatroun and
Sabha, others are in places like Sirt and in need of
evacuation.
As these reports emerge, IOM is continuing its efforts to access
Gatroun where many Chadians are reported to be stranded. IOM
interviews with Chadians who are returning home by truck reveal
that many migrants have stayed as long as they could in Libya in
the hope of being given months of unpaid wages. Lack of food and
water was forcing them to finally leave.
Meanwhile, an eighth IOM mission to evacuate another group of
migrants by sea from the port city of Misrata concluded late last
week.
The mission, funded by the US State Department's Bureau of
Population, Refugees and Migration, rescued 166 migrants, the
majority from Sub-Saharan Africa including Nigeriens, Chadians,
Ghanaians and Sudanese. The rest comprised Palestinians, Moroccans,
Egyptians, Tunisians as well as migrants from Jordan, Britain and
Pakistan.
Thirty-six war-wounded casualties were evacuated to Benghazi
with the migrants, bringing the number of people rescued from
Misrata to about 7,200.
The IOM-chartered ship also delivered hundreds of tons of
humanitarian aid and provided the logistics for the deployment of
an IOM-led interagency assessment team to Misrata to assess
humanitarian needs there after months of fighting.
So far, IOM has provided evacuation assistance to about 31,000
people from inside Libya including the Misrata operations. More
than 9,000 migrants including Sub-Saharan Africans have been
transported by road from Tripoli to the Tunisian border and nearly
15,000 from Benghazi in the east to the Egyptian border.
Since late February, IOM has helped nearly 144,000 migrants in
Algeria, Egypt, Tunisia, Chad and Niger with evacuation assistance
back to their home countries.
As the crisis drags on, the numbers of people fleeing across
Libya borders continue to mount steadily. More than 952,000 people
have so far crossed into its six neighbouring countries or arrived
in Italy and Malta.
For further information, please contact:
Jean Philippe Chauzy
IOM Geneva
Tel: + 41 22 717 9361/+41 79 285 4366
Email:
"mailto:jpchauzy@iom.int">jpchauzy@iom.int
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