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Pinoy Abroad

PHL govt offers to repatriate 30,000 Filipinos in Libya


The Philippine government is offering to repatriate some 30,000 Filipinos in Libya as violent protests calling for an end to Libyan leader Muammar Ghadafi’s four-decade rule continue. According to Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Undersecretary Esteban Conejos, the Philippine Embassy in Tripoli raised the alert level for Filipinos in Libya to level 3, which calls for voluntary departure. At a press conference on Tuesday, Conejos said despite the violent uprisings, there is no need to evacuate the Filipinos, explaining that the situation does not call for it yet. Conejos said “Our operating instruction is that those Filipinos living in Tripoli should contact the embassy of their desire to be repatriated to Manila. Don’t leave unless you have cleared it with the embassy or contact your local Filipino coordinators to indicate your desire to go back." Conejos also explained that voluntary repatriation only applies in Libya even though similar protests are happening in Yemen and Bahrain. Conejos said around 15,000 Filipinos are concentrated in Tripoli, the capital, and in areas around it; some 10,000 Filipinos are in Benghazi and another 5,000 Filipinos are in Al-Bayda and small towns in between. The Philippine government has already requested the International Organization for Migration to help arrage flights for Filipinos wishing to go home to the Philippines. Conejos said they will be flown out of Libya through the international airport in Tripoli. Other exit routes are also being looked into such as Libya’s borders with Tunisia, Egypt, Chad, Sudan and Nigeria. “As long as the airport in Tripoli is open, we will fly them from there," Conejos said. “We are ready to process the repatriation now. We will repatriate as much as we could." He said 95 percent of Filipinos there are professionals such as doctors, nurses and engineers. The others are skilled workers employed in equipment operations and in oil and gas industries, he added. “They work in big companies. These companies have their own contingency plans. Our advise is that you move with them and don’t go out on your own. Your movement must be coordinated and synchronized," he said. The Philippine government has dispatched a “quick reaction team" led by Foreign Affairs Executive Director Ricardo Endaya to augment the embassy staff in Libya. The DFA also set aside a $150,000-dollar fund for the repatriation. The DFA also advised Filipino travelers to defer unnecessary travel to Libya. – VVP, GMA News

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