After 7 OFWs abducted, Del Rosario flies to Tunisia to urge Filipinos to leave Libya

Foreign Affairs secretary Alberto del Rosario. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

As the security situation in war-torn Libya continued to deteriorate, especially on the heels of the abduction of seven Filipino oil workers, Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario has flown to its neighboring country to renew the governments call for the Filipino workers left behind to go home.

Del Rosario left the country on Thursday for a two-day visit in Tunisia, a country in the northernmost part Africa sharing a border with Libya to personally review and direct the implementation of the Philippine government’s mandatory repatriation program for Filipinos in Libya

Tunisia, neighboring to Libya to the northwest, is the main exit point for Filipinos being evacuated out of Libya.

According to the Department of Foreign Affairs, at least 3,000 of the more than 4,000 Filipinos who have been repatriated since the Philippine Government started implementing mandatory repatriation in June 2014 transited through Tunisia.

“The government has renewed its urgent call for Filipino workers in Libya to avail themselves of the program in view of the deteriorating situation in the country and following the abduction of seven Filipino nationals in two separate incidents in the past month,” a statement from the DFA released on Saturday said.

Del Rosario met with 41 Filipinos who had just escaped the violence in Libya and are scheduled to fly out of Tunis, the capital of Tunisia, to the Philippines soon.

Their evacuation has been facilitated by the Philippine Embassy in Tripoli, Libya.

“Secretary Del Rosario appealed to them to urge their remaining Filipino friends and acquaintances in Libya to heed the government’s advice and come home,” the DFA said.

Del Rosario also made calls to several Filipinos still in Libya representing various Filipino community groups to personally encourage them and their friends to join the others who have already left the country.

While in Tunis, the secretary took the opportunity to meet with the ambassadors of Austria, Bangladesh, and the Czech Republic, whose nationals were among those who were abducted following the attack on the Al Ghani oil field by an unknown armed group on March 6.

Four Filipinos were among those 9 foreigners snatched after the attack by suspected jihadists.

Del Rosario said the condition and whereabouts of the foreigners abducted remain unknown but officials of respective countries agreed to coordinate closely and create a crisis team to facilitate the search for their missing nationals.

Authorities have yet to track the location of the other three Filipino workers who were abducted in Libya early last month.

In the visit, Del Rosario was accompanied by Rafael Seguis, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for civilian security and consular concerns and Julius D. Torres, assistant secretary for Middle East and African affairs.

The Filipino officials were assisted by the Charge d’Affaires of the Philippine embassy in Tripoli Adelio Angelito S. Cruz and the Philippine honorary consul in Tunis Sonia Ayed Sayah.

At present, there are around 4,200 Filipinos remaining in Libya, down from the original 13, 000 nationals since the DFA began its mandatory repatriation.

In previous Inquirer interviews with arriving OFWs from Libya late January, Filipinos now chose to return to the country since there was no longer a way to send money to the Philippines since all the money shops have shut down.

“The Philippine Embassy in Tripoli continues to encourage the remaining Filipinos to avail themselves of the mandatory repatriation program of the Philippine Government,” the DFA said.

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