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

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