PH hires ferries to evacuate13,000 Filipino OFWs in Libya after beheading, rape

Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) repatriated from Libya thru the effort of the Philippine government arrive at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) on Monday (June 23, 2014) in Pasay City. (PNA photos by Avito C. Dalan)

MANILA – The foreign ministry said on Thursday that the Philippines will commission ferries to expedite the repatriation of 13,000 of its nationals from Libya. The announcement came a day after a Filipina nurse was abducted and gang-raped by 6-9 Libyan youths in the capital city of Tripoli on Wednesday.

According to foreign department spokesman Charles Jose, the Filipina nurse was taken from outside her residence to an undisclosed location, where she was raped by the group of Libyan youth. She was set free two hours later, and was taken to hospital y a team from the Philippine consul.

Some days before the abduction-rape, a Filipino construction worker was abducted. His beheaded remains were found at a hospital in the port of Benghazi.

“We condemn these crimes that have been committed against our people,” President Benigno Aquino’s spokesman Herminio Coloma told reporters.

Following the beheading, the Philippines ordered the evacuation from Libya of all 13,000 of its citizens; majority of whom are overseas foreign workers. The effort is being spearheaded by a consular team; organizing evacuation by land to nearby Tunisia and Egypt.

The foreign ministry reports, however, that as of Wednesday, only 700 Filipinos had left Libya. This, in spite of the increasingly volatile situation brought on by opposing militias fighting to take control of strategic population centres.

The Philippines has also announced a comprehensive travel ban to Libya.

A similar evacuation situation occurred in 2011, following the chaos that ensued when the late Moamer Kadhafi was removed from power. But many of the Filipino workers subsequently returned to their jobs in Libya, given the scarcity of employment in their own country.

“Just like what we did before, the Department of Foreign Affairs has hired ships to ferry and evacuate Filipinos,” Coloma said.

“We reiterate our appeal to those Filipinos still in Libya to comply with the mandatory evacuation (order),” Coloma said.

Approximately 10 million Filipinos live and work abroad, for want of good job opportunities in the Philippines. A large number of these workers are in the Middle East.