Rebel Advancement on Tripoli Good News for Migrants (NEWS BRIEF)

A migrant prays while awaiting evacuation from Libya. Credit: UN(HN, August 22, 2011) - Thousands of stranded migrants, mostly from impoverished Africa countries, may now have a chance of being evacuated now that the Libyan capital appears to be slipping from the control of Colonel Muamar Gaddafi.

As soon as his fortunes started to turn for the worse Sunday, the UN dispatched a chartered boat, which is currently en route to Tripoli to carry out an initial sea evacuation of migrants stranded in the city.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) chartered boat, which has a capacity to carry 300 people, left the eastern city of Benghazi Monday morning after completing a mission late Sunday to evacuate 124 migrants from Misrata. 

The boat, the Tasucu, is due to arrive in Tripoli on Tuesday and will leave for Benghazi as soon as IOM is able to successfully board the migrants. 

From there, IOM will use an on-going operation to take rescued migrants to the Egyptian border at Salloum by road before assisting them to return to their home countries.

On board are several IOM operational and medical staff. 

The situation in and around Tripoli is remains dangerous. Separately, a Maltese ship which was due to rescue foreign nationals - nine of them British - from Tripoli came under fire on Sunday and was forced to retreat and get towed to open water by a British naval ship.

With a rapidly evolving situation in the Libyan capital, it is unclear how many foreign nationals working in the country would still wish to leave. More than 5,000 Bangladeshis, Filipinos and Egyptians alone have registered their desire to leave. Many more, including Sub-Saharan Africans who live on the outskirts of Tripoli and who have not been able to reach their embassies, might also require assistance.

IOM had been made aware of many thousands of migrants of several nationalities wanting to leave Tripoli but who had been unable to do so as fighting on the western front had cut off the road route to the Tunisian border. 

"The situation is extremely fluid, not only in terms of how many people may have changed their minds about leaving, but also in terms of changing counter-parts on the ground," says Pasquale Lupoli, IOM Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa. "We hope the IOM boat will be able to dock on Tuesday on time and that the Organization will be able to safely carry out its mission."

With migrants scattered around Tripoli and fighting still reported in some parts of the city, IOM is calling for both parties to ensure migrants are allowed to safely make their way to the port for evacuation. 

IOM will evacuate more stranded migrants by sea if there is a humanitarian need.

Earlier this year, the UN and other aid agencies evacuated tens of thousands of stranded migrants, mostly from border areas and Bengazi.

- HUMNEWS staff, UN