IOM has received reports of an estimated 1,000 migrants
thought to be in and around the desert oasis town of Kufra in
south-eastern Libya.
The migrants are in various places with many hiding in fear
due to their irregular status and inability to leave the country
and return home.
While the Organization works on how to access and assist them
quickly, it has registered more than 400 migrants, mainly Chadians
but also Nigerians, Nigeriens, Burkinabés, Togolese and Egyptians
in the southern city of Sebha for evacuation.
An additional 200 Sudanese migrants say they are ready for
immediate departure to Khartoum with community elders reporting to
IOM that there are about 3,000 Sudanese in the area who may also
require evacuation assistance.
IOM staff on site say more and more migrants have been coming
to an IOM transit centre set up in Sebha after hearing of the
successful evacuation of 529 migrants last week from Sebha to
Chad.
“Migrants had been sceptical that we would be able to evacuate
people out by air from the airport at Sebha, which has been closed
for many months. But after seeing the planes leave with their
compatriots on board, they feel there is hope for them,” says Qasim
Sufi, who is heading IOM’s evacuation operation from Sebha.
A major source of concern has been over the welfare of the
migrants living out in the open under the brutal desert sun without
access to food, water, sanitation and medical assistance.
However, the opening of an IOM transit centre providing this
help is now allaying those concerns.
“It’s a huge relief to have the centre up and running, to know
that we are getting people out from the sun and providing them with
a safe place to stay,” adds Sufi.
More than 100 migrants are currently taking shelter in the IOM
centre with more arriving daily.
However, IOM is concerned at the fate of about 1,000 Chadian migrants in Gatroun, seen by IOM staff more than two weeks ago.
Mostly women, children and the elderly, the migrants have been
living out in the open on the outskirts of Gatroun with no
protection from the elements for many weeks.
IOM has been trying to transport the migrants to Sebha but
extremely poor security conditions on the road linking the two
towns mainly due to the activities of bandits has prevented the
operation from being carried out.
“We haven’t given up hope of getting this group of 1,000 out
of Gatroun. It’s too dangerous to transport them en masse so we are
looking into alternatives with the support of local authorities and
the Chadian Consul. We have managed to get individual families out
and this may be the way we will have to proceed,” states
Sufi.
Meanwhile, the migrants rescued from Misrata on this 12th IOM
mission to help those stranded by the on-going violence there, are
currently en route to the eastern port city of Benghazi on board an
IOM-chartered ship.
IOM’s evacuation operations in southern Libya and from Misrata
are funded by the European Commission’s Humanitarian and Civil Aid
department (ECHO), the Australian, British, German, Irish and US
governments.
Nearly 625,000 migrants have now fled the violence in Libya
since late February.
For further information, please contact IOM’s Qasim Sufi,
in Sebha, Libya, Tel: + 218 944 1068 94 or Jemini Pandya, IOM
Geneva, Tel: + 41 22 717 9486/+ 41 79 217 3374 Email:
jpandya@iom.int
