Official Statements

Numbers of Foreigners Needing Evacuation Assistance from Lebanon Rise

More requests are coming into IOM from governments to help evacuate
stranded migrants in Lebanon.



IOM has already been asked by Bangladesh, Moldova, Philippines and
Sri Lanka to evacuate the most vulnerable of their nationals to
Syria and Jordan.



Ghana, which does not have a diplomatic presence in Lebanon, has
now also asked IOM about the possibility of evacuating up to 500 of
its nationals identified in Beirut and an as yet unknown number in
the city of Tripoli.



About 300 Sri Lankan migrants have now asked to be evacuated, but
the number of requests is rising by approximately 100 people a day.
Those most urgently in need of assistance are a group of 119.
Forty-six of them are currently in the Sri Lankan embassy in Beirut
located near a Lebanese military base which is under regular
bombardment. The remainder are in a shelter run by the NGO,
Caritas.



“It’s important that we get this group out as soon as
possible as their situation is precarious,” said IOM’s
Vincent Houver, who is handling the evacuations operations.
“We are organizing for a land convoy to leave as soon as
possible.”



There are up to 90,000 Sri Lankan nationals in Lebanon. Some of
those who have requested evacuation do not have travel documents
while virtually all of them are single women employed as domestic
workers.



The Sri Lankan government has told IOM it expects the numbers of
their nationals needing evacuation to rise significantly.



More than 2,000 Philippines nationals have registered with their
embassy for evacuation, though 160 of them are in currently being
accommodated in a shelter by a church in Beirut. Caritas is
providing food supplies to the group.



With an estimated 30,000-40,000 Philippines nationals in Lebanon,
it is expected that the number of those needing assistance will
also rise.



The Moldovan government has asked for 240 of its nationals to be
evacuated, while Bangladesh has acknowledged it has a 60,000 strong
community in Lebanon.



The escalating crisis in the Lebanon is making it increasingly
difficult for individuals from developing countries to leave as
transport costs spiral upwards and are subject to daily variation.




In recent years, IOM has been working in Lebanon on a refugee
resettlement programme to Canada together with UNHCR with about
15-20 refugees departing each month. IOM is ensuring that those who
were due to leave will also be evacuated for their resettlement.




IOM is appealing to donors to help fund all evacuations.



For further information, please contact:



Jemini Pandya

IOM Geneva

Tel: + 41 22 717 9486/Mobile: + 41 79 217 3374

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



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