In this Saturday, July 26, 2014 frame grab from video obtained from a freelance journalist traveling with the Misarata brigade, fighters from the Islamist Misarata brigade fire towards Tripoli airport in an attempt to wrest control from a powerful rival militia, in Tripoli, Libya. AP
MANILA, Philippines—Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario said Thursday that he would travel to Tunisia, which borders Libya, to personally oversee the repatriation efforts for Filipinos still in the strife-torn country.
“I am leaving for Tunisia today (Thursday) to review our plan to repatriate our people from Libya on a mandatory basis. We are in the process of engaging ships from Malta that would up our people from Benghazi, Misarata then hopefully Tripoli then return to Malta for air transport to Manila,” del Rosario said in a text message to reporters Thursday.
“Our major challenge, as in 2011, is to convince our countrymen that they must leave Libya at the soonest possible time to avoid the perils of a highly exacerbating situation there,” he said.
The DFA has previously raised crisis alert level 4 in Libya because it is on the verge of a civil war as rival militant groups fight over control of territory amid weak government control. The situation in Libya has been unstable since the fall of long-time dictator Muammar Gaddhafi in 2011.
Charge d’affaires Adelio Angelito Cruz of the Philippine Embassy to Libya said in an interview over Radyo Inquirer 990AM that 752 Filipinos have so far been evacuated by the Embassy heading to the border of Tunisia.
“They were assisted by Embassy personnel to Tunis where they were able to leave for the Philippines,” he said.
“Only small airports [in Libya] remain operational but there is no assurance that flights are available [out of Libya],” Cruz added.
Del Rosario said in a previous televised interview that they “hope to get close to a thousand (Filipinos) on that ship, because those ships are expensive.”
Cruz noted the increasing number of refugees from Libya at the border of Tunisia but said that they were able to cross the border eventually.
A Filipino was previously kidnapped and beheaded by militiamen after being singled out as a non-Muslim.
A Filipina nurse was also recently abducted by Libyan youth and then raped before being released. She has been brought to a hospital by personnel of the Philippine Embassy for a check-up.
She is under the care of the Philippine Embassy and is set to be repatriated.
“We were able to coordinate with the management of the hospital where she works and they have promised us that they will not stop until the perpetrators are apprehended,” Cruz said.