23 March 2015 – The Philippine Embassy in Tripoli reported that one hundred sixty-four (164) Filipinos were safely repatriated out of Libya on March 21.
The Embassy team led by Charge d'Affaires Adel Cruz facilitated the repatriation of the OFWs and personally accompanied them out of Libya and into Tunisia where they would take their flights to Manila. The 164 repatriates were transported in a convoy of four buses, with at least one Embassy staff in each bus.
Embassy representatives in Tripoli and Tunisia provided for the repatriates’ accommodations and basic necessities and extended consular and airport assistance before they left for Manila.
The first batch composed of thirty-nine (39) Filipinos arrives today at 3:10 p.m. on board flight QR926. Another five (5) repatriates also arrive on the same day at 12:10 p.m. via flight PR311.
On March 24, twenty-one (21) more Filipinos are also scheduled to arrive at 3:10 p.m. via flight QR926, while twenty-six (26) Filipinos on board flight PR311 will arrive at 12:10.
The third batch composed of twenty-one (21) Filipinos is scheduled to arrive at 3:10 p.m. on March 25 via flight QR926.
The Embassy team is currently finalizing the flight details of the fifty-two (52) other Filipino repatriates.
These arrivals will bring the total number of Filipino repatriates from Libya to 4,482 since May 2014. Representatives from the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) will meet the OFWs at NAIA to brief and assist them.
More Filipinos are expected to sign up for mandatory repatriation after Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert F. del Rosario made the renewed call to remaining Filipinos in Libya to return home during his visit to Tunisia from March 13 to 14.
Meanwhile, some 4,000 Filipinos still remain in Libya despite repeated calls from the Embassy to join the repatriation operations. The DFA and the Embassy in Tripoli urge our remaining kababayans in Libya to avail themselves of the mandatory repatriation offer as soon as possible, before it becomes more difficult to repatriate them due to the continued deterioration of the security situation in the country.
The DFA also appeals to the next-of-kin of the remaining Filipinos in Libya to encourage them to return home to the Philippines. END