DFA explains delay in arrival of ship that will ferry OFWs out of Libya



Tags: Department of Foreign Affairs , Libya
The Department of Foreign Affairs on Monday said “logistical reasons” caused the delay in the arrival of a chartered vessel that was hired by the Philippine government to ferry more than 1,000 stranded Filipinos out of troubled Libya.
     
“Because the ship will be coming from Italy to Malta then Libya, they have been at sea for several days. It’s a matter of refueling the vessel while at sea,” Foreign Affairs spokesman Charles Jose told a press briefing.
     
Jose was also quick to dismiss speculations that the vessel could not dock at the port in Benghazi —the first of the two harbors in Libya where it would pick up Filipinos—due to security threats.
     
Libya Herald reported a plan by armed groups to close the port in Benghzai to “counter the trafficking of arms and ammunition” to aid “extremists.”
     
Attempts to enter the port by any vessel, the report added, would be fired at.
 
Jose said the vessel is expected to arrive in Benghazi on Aug. 13 where 490 Filipinos have registered for evacuation by sea. It will then proceed to pick up another batch of 610 Filipinos in Misrata on Aug. 14.
 
The ship will arrive in Malta on Aug. 15 and from there, Philippine Airlines chartered planes will fly the evacuees directly to Manila.  
 
“According to our embassy in Tripoli, they are being assisted by the (Libyan) Red Crescent in Benghazi and the Red Crescent is coordinating with the militias. They assured the embassy that they can use the Benghazi port,” Jose said.
 
Apart from the 1,100 Filipinos who have registered for evacuation by sea, 588 Filipinos in Tripoli are waiting for their turn to exit Libya via land travel to the border in Tunisia, Jose said.
 
They will cross the border in groups, he said.
 
He also said that 68 Filipinos will arrive in two batches Monday afternoon and on Tuesday.
 
Their arrival to Manila will bring the total number of Filipino workers repatriated from Libya to 1,625 since the Philippine government enforced mass evacuation in June due to growing violence in the North African state, which is in a state of civil war. —KG, GMA News

Tags: Department of Foreign Affairs , Libya

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

POPCOM, gagamit ng ‘digital platforms’ para pagtibayin ang mga ugnayang pampamilya

Mas pinalalawig ng Komisyon sa Populasyon at Pagpapaunlad (POPCOM) ang adhikain nitong pagpapalaganap at pagpapabuti ng pakikipag-ugnayan ng mga nakakatandang Pilipino sa kanilang mga anak na nagdadalaga at nagbibinata. Nitong Setyembre 21, ang POPCOM ay nagsagawa ng isang “parent-teen talk webinar” gamit ang Zoom, kung saan ang isang “interactive program” ang nagbigay ng naaayon na kaalaman at kasanayan sa mga magulang, habang tumulong ito sa mga anak na teenager na maabot ang kanilang buong potensyal. Hinikayat din nito ang mga nanay at tatay na sumali sa malayang usapan, lalo na sa mga usapin ukol sa sex at sekswalidad, na nakikitang makakatulong upang bumaba ang mga bilang ng mga pagbubuntis sa hanay ng mga kabataan. Maaaring mapanood ang webinar sa https://youtu.be/lZ9jrJCjYas. Ayon kay Ikalawang Kalihim (Undersecretary) Juan Antonio A. Perez III, MD, MPH, “ang webinar ay naging isang tagapag-simula at ‘padaluyan’ ng pag-uu
Read more

Biden said set to make push for demilitarized Palestinian state as part of new doctrine ---By LAZAR BERMAN

New York Times’ Thomas Friedman, who’s close to the US administration, says emerging doctrine would include Saudi-Israeli normalization, 2-state solution, and campaign against Iran US President Joe Biden’s administration is homing in on a new doctrine involving an unprecedented push to immediately advance the creation of a demilitarized but viable Palestinian state, The New York Times’ Thomas Friedman reported on Thursday. The plan, Friedman wrote, “would involve some form of US recognition of a demilitarized Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip that would come into being only once Palestinians had developed a set of defined, credible institutions and security capabilities to ensure that this state was viable and that it could never threaten Israel.” White House officials “have been consulting experts inside and outside the US government about different forms this recognition of Palestinian statehood might take,” revealed Friedman. What he termed the new “Biden Doctrin
Read more

In Cairo, senior Hamas officials discuss hostage deal with Egyptian intelligence chief ---By TOI STAFF, AGENCIES and LAZAR BERMAN

Delegation said led by terror group’s Qatar-based political leader Ismail Haniyeh; Wall Street Journal reports Hamas demanding 150 security prisoners for each female soldier A delegation of senior Hamas officials arrived in Cairo on Thursday for talks with Egyptian officials on a possible deal that would see the release of hostages held by terrorists in Gaza. The delegation was led by Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, who lives in Qatar, and included senior members Mousa Abu Marzook and Khalil al-Hayya, the Qatar-based Al-Araby news outlet reported, citing an unnamed Egyptian source. The Hamas officials met with the head of Egyptian intelligence, Major General Abbas Kamel, to discuss the details of a hostage deal proposal that was presented to the Gaza terror group earlier this week by Qatari and Egyptian mediators. The outline of the deal was drawn up during a meeting in Paris last week in the presence of Israeli and US officials, as well as Qatari and Egyptian negotiators, a
Read more