Intl group: Over 100 Filipinos 'stranded' in Libya awaiting repatriation05/05/2011

Over 100 Filipinos who are stranded in Misrata, Libya are awaiting repatriation, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said.

The IOM, in a news release posted on its website on Thursday (Manila time), said the batch stuck in Misrata includes women and children.

"IOM has been made aware of 109 Filipinos in Misrata, including women and children who also need to be evacuated but the Organization has not been able to establish contact with the group," it said.

No other details on the Filipinos were mentioned.

Stranded migrants

According to IOM, it transferred some 800 people, including stranded migrants and up to 50 wounded civilians, from Misrata despite shelling and shooting in the port vicinity.

IOM chartered a boat, the "Red Star One," to transport the people, over 20 journalists and some doctors, out of Misrata.

"Heavy shelling of Misrata in addition to mines having been laid had prevented the IOM boat from docking for five days. The fighting had forced at least 1,000 migrants who had been waiting at the port to be evacuated to flee the area," the IOM said.

The IOM said some 180 tons of humanitarian aid — food, non-food and medical supplies — had been offloaded before the boat departed for Benghazi.

"This is the sixth life-saving rescue mission to Misrata successfully carried out by IOM since early April. In that time, the Organization has delivered almost 2,000 tons of humanitarian aid to the besieged city and safely brought back to Benghazi about 6,000 stranded migrants, wounded civilians and their families," the IOM said.

IOM’s humanitarian evacuation program out of Misrata is funded by the European Commission's Humanitarian Aid and Civilian Protection Office (ECHO), Britain's Department for International Development (DFID), Germany, Ireland and Australia. - VVP, GMA News

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