At least 700 Filipino overseas foreign workers (OFWs) trapped in war-torn Libya will be rescued by a ship to be sent by the Philippine government. The announcement was made on Tuesday by Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario.
Del Rosario said the ship would pick up Filipinos from Misrata and Benghazi. The department is also keeping their fingers crossed that they would be able to rescue Pinoys stranded in Sirte, as well. It noted that other OFWs still have the option to escape by land across the border to Tunisia.
“We have 400 from Misrata, we have 300 from Benghazi and we have something like a couple of hundred from Sirte but the boat cannot go into Sirte because it’s a shallow harbour so we need a small vessel to bring the people back out to the boat,” he said.
“We are counting on getting as many people as possible,” so they can be brought to safety in Malta, he expressed.
The ship, chartered at a cost of approximately $1.8 million can carry up to 1,500 passengers and is expected to reach Libya by the weekend.
Around 13,000 Filipinos were employed in Libya when the violent fighting between militia groups broke out in July of this year.
The Philippine government repeatedly called for a “mandatory evacuation,” but an estimated 11,000 Filipinos are still in Libya, for fear of not finding jobs in their own country. The airport has since been shut down, due to the fighting, and much of road travel is no longer considered a safe option.
Del Rosario pointed out, however, that the route between Tripoli and Tunisia is now secure, and that it is possible to evacuate people from the Libyan capital via land travel to the border.
He also noted that there are some companies conducting their own evacuation of foreign workers in their employ.