Press briefing note 8-7-2011.
Some 370 vulnerable individuals who had spent weeks living in
the open with limited access to food, water and health services,
have so far been evacuated together with their belongings . More
IOM flights are lined up in the coming days to assist up to 2,000
Chadian and other African migrants marooned in Sebha and in
Gatroun, a town further to the south.
Despite their ordeal, the migrants were deeply appreciative of
the support they received from the local population and
authorities,” says IOM’s Dr. Qasim Sufi, who is leading the
evacuation effort. “They sang as they boarded the plane. Many women
and children said they hope to be reunited with their
husbands and fathers as families were split in the early days of
the crisis.”
The returnees were met on arrival in N’Djamena by IOM staff
and provided with food, shelter and assistance to return to their
towns and villages primarily in the regions of Kanem, Lac, Ouaddai
and Bahr El Gazel.
Most of the migrants had been employed for many years in
Libya, working menial jobs in the informal sector of the economy in
cities such as Kufra, Misrata, Al Jufra, Sebha and elsewhere.
Prior to their departure, IOM staff in Sebha distributed
water, food and hygiene materials purchased from the local market
to the stranded migrants. Medical checks were carried out with the
support of the Libyan Red Crescent. Serious cases, like the case of
a woman suffering from acute TB, are referred to Sebha general
hospital. One migrant needed a wheelchair because of gunshot wounds
he received in his thigh while fleeing the fighting. The wheelchair
was provided by the airport authorities.
IOM staff on the ground in Sebha have already identified a
location to set up a transit centre which will initially
accommodate 500 persons who will receive food, water, shelter and
medical care.
Work with the Libyan authorities, clan elders and both
Chadian, Nigerien (and other) consular officers is on-going to help
identify other groups of migrants in need of humanitarian and
evacuation assistance. Already the Chadian consulate in Sebha has
received more than 100 requests for registration and evacuation
from Chadian nationals across Libya, upon hearing the news of the
IOM airlifts.
“The five month closure of the airport in Sebha meant that the
most vulnerable migrants had lost all hope of being evacuated,”
says Sufi. “Now that the news of the operation is going around, we
expect many more desperate migrants to request assistance in the
coming days.”
IOM continues to organize land transport for stranded migrants
along the 320 kilometres desert stretch from Gatroun to Sebha as
many women, children and elderly migrants were unable to leave
because of sporadic clashes, banditry and a lack of local
transport.
“Leaving Libya is a matter of last resort and the uncertainty of what awaits them in Chad after decades away is causing fear and worry among them,” says Sufi. “Beyond immediate return assistance, IOM is also providing small cash payments equivalent to 70 Euros per family head and 30 Euros per family member to help them meet some of the initial challenges they will have to face.”
More than 70,000 Chadian migrants have retuned from Libya over the past four months, most of the time, empty-handed. Their homecoming means that remittances they used to send back to their families in Chad have also dried up, making them even more vulnerable at a time of worsening food insecurity.
“The ripple effect of the Libyan crisis will continue to be
felt by families in Chad and the region for many months to come,”
says IOM’s Qasim Sufi. “The international community needs to commit
additional resources to those countries which have also been
affected by the recent crisis in Cote d’Ivoire and by the economic
downturn in Europe.”
IOM’s assessment and evacuation operation from Gatroun and
Sebha is funded by the European Commission’s Humanitarian and Civil
Aid department (ECHO), the US and German governments.
For further information, please contact: Qasim Sufi, in
Southern Libya, Tel: + 218 944 10 68 94 or Jumbe Omari Jumbe Tel.
+41.22.717.9405 / +41.79.812.7734, email: jjumbe@iom.int
