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.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 a 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.
“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 or Email: jpchauzy@iom.int or Jemini Pandya, Tel: +41 22 717 9486/+ 41 79 217 3374 Email: jpandya@iom.int or Jumbe Omari Jumbe, Tel: + 41 22 717 9405/+ 41 79 812 7734 Email: jjumbe@iom.int
