DFA calls for voluntary repatriation of Filipinos in Libya By GISELLE OMBAY, GMA Integrated News

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Wednesday urged Filipinos in Libya to voluntarily repatriate despite ''significant improvements'' in the political and security situation in the North African country. Separate crisis alert levels were previously imposed, with Tripoli and areas within a 100-kilometer radius under Alert Level 4 (mandatory repatriation) and areas outside that distance under Alert Level 2 (restricted phase). The DFA updated this on Wednesday by placing Libya under Crisis Alert Level 3 (voluntary repatriation). The agency explained that it updated the crisis alert level status for Libya upon observing that "while the political and security conditions in Libya remain fragile, there have been significant improvements in the country since 2019." "It is noted that Libya, despite the political divide between the east and the west, is currently not under a full-blown external attack from both sides. Conflicts in Libya, since 2019, are localized, sporadic, and targeted at combatants, which are not features of a large-scale civil conflict but rather of low-intensity conflicts," the DFA said. It also cited ongoing efforts, primarily through the United Nations Support Mission in Libya, to unite the two governments in Libya through the conduct of elections and unify and strengthen the country’s security apparatus. There are currently around 2,300 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Libya, according to the DFA. The department said the OFWs in Libya are more concerned with the 305 pending labor issues than the conflict in the country. "[They] perceive the country as safe and secure. This perception of safety is grounded on the fact that most of the OFWs remaining in Libya are veterans of conflict, having survived the civil wars of 2011 and 2014–2020 and the fight with Daesh that accompanied the civil wars, and have thus adapted to the instability in the country," the DFA added. It said that the updated crisis alert level in Libya may be a chance to resolve the labor issues of the OFWs there. "The DFA therefore views the updated Crisis Alert Level 3 imposed on Libya as an opportunity for the country to resolve the pending labor issues of the remaining OFWs, which would consequently bring about the condition for the gradual relaxation of the deployment ban through selective deployment,'' the DFA said. — VBL, GMA Integrated News

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