Safe Evacuation of Hundreds More Migrants and Wounded from Misrata Amidst Renewed Shelling
Another 222 migrants, mainly from Sub-Saharan Africa and 30 war
wounded evacuated by IOM from the Libyan port city of Misrata
arrived safely in Benghazi today, 14 June.
The migrants and wounded were taken out of Misrata on an
IOM-chartered ship on Monday following renewed shelling of the city
that had ended relative calm there over the past few weeks.
The 222 migrants rescued in the IOM operation funded by the US
State Department's Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration
(PRM), were mainly from Chad, Nigeria, Sudan and other parts of
Africa.
IOM staff on the ship say the migrants were frightened and
confused after several weeks of living in temporary shelter near
the port, especially after the resumption of shelling.
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At one point during the evacuation when the ship was docked,
artillery fire which landed just 400 metres from the pier forced
the IOM-chartered ship to sail out to sea and await two remaining
staff who had to be brought out to the ship on a tug-boat.
An on-board field hospital run by LibAid with a fully equipped
intensive care unit provided care for the wounded, including five
people with severe head trauma injuries caused by shrapnel from the
artillery shelling.
Among them was a 12-year-old boy in stable but critical
condition after sustaining extensive head injuries from unexploded
ordnance that can be found all around Misrata city after more than
three months of siege.
According to IOM staff carrying out the operation, critically
ill migrants as well as wounded Libyans are arriving in Misrata in
steady numbers on a daily basis.
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width="135">
shot in the abdomen. © IOM 2011
"It is clear there is a continued need for this vital lifeline
out of Misrata for stranded migrants and wounded civilians. IOM
intends to continue this operation as long as migrants are in need
of help," says IOM's Director of Operations and Emergencies,
Mohammed Abdiker.
This is the ninth sea evacuation of migrants and wounded from
Misrata carried out by IOM since mid April. So far, close to 7,500
mostly migrants have been brought to Benghazi from where they have
been taken to Salloum on the Egyptian border by road and eventually
helped to return to the safety of their home countries by IOM.
Previous Misrata operations funded by Britain's Department for
International Development (DFID), the European Commission's
Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection Office (ECHO), Australia,
Germany and Ireland as well as the US government, have also brought
thousands of tons of humanitarian aid to a besieged city running
out of food, non-food and medical supplies.
More than one million people, migrants and Libyan nationals have
now fled the North African crisis since it began in February.
For further information, please contact:
Jean Philippe Chauzy
IOM Geneva
Tel: + 41 22 717 9361/+41 79 285 4366
E-mail:
"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