More Filipinos in strife-torn Libya heading home

MANILA, Philippines – Four Filipinos in strife-torn Libya are on their way home while 29 others  will likewise be assisted  by the government after securing exit clearances, Philippine Embassy in Libya Chargé d’Affaires Elmer Cato said.

Personnel from the Philippine Embassy in Libya evacuate Filipino workers from Tripoli. (Photo from a video posted on Twitter by Charge d’Affaires Elmer Cato)

Cato, on Monday morning said two nurses and their husbands are  one their way to Tunis, the capital of Tunisia, and have already crossed the Libya-Tunisian border.

“They should arrive in Tunis in a few hours where a team from the Department of Foreign Affairs will assist in their repatriation,” Cato said in a statement.

He said this brought the total number of Filipinos escorted out of the strife-torn Libyan capital to 11.

READ: DFA to repatriate first batch of OFWs from Libya

The 29 other Filipinos have also requested assistance from the Philippine embassy and will be repatriated in the next few days, Cato said in a Twitter post.

This morning, @PhinLibya evacuated four more Filipinos from #Tripoli, bringing to 11 the number of those it has assisted so far. Twenty nine more Filipinos have requested assistance and will be repatriated in the next few days. @DFAPHL @teddyboylocsin pic.twitter.com/bMk9mGDL06

— Elmer G Cato (@elmer_cato) April 21, 2019

Fifteen of the OFWs are working at a carpet factory while one is a nurse from Ghara, who, Cato said, will be evacuated as soon as they secure their exit clearances from Libyan authorities.

Cato, however, noted that majority of OFWs in Tripoli and surrounding areas still opted to stay in Libya.

“These are mostly nurses, including around 50 of them at the Masarra Clinic, which we visited this morning,” the Chargé d’Affaires said.

“The nurses said they would not go home despite the looming danger just a few kilometers away because, according to them, they are sure their employer will take care of them,” he added. /gsg