IOM pleads for $11m fund to evacuate migrants from Libya

International Organisation for Migration (IOM) has appealed for an initial US$ 11 million fund to assist the violence-affected immigrants in Libya who are in need of assistance for evacuation and repatriation. The proposed fund is meant for enabling the organisation to assist the first group of 10,000 immigrants there. However, official requests by several countries to evacuate and repatriate their nationals would require providing assistance to, at least, 50,000 people, said an IOM Dhaka Centre press release. "The situation of the migrants stuck inside Libya is extremely difficult, and we are deeply concerned about their plight," said IOM Director General William Lacy Swing. "We, therefore, urge donors to respond to the appeal quickly. This would allow IOM to assist and protect the migrant workers who have crossed borders amid great risk." Meanwhile, about 750 Bangladeshis, out of an estimated total of 50,000 there, are now heading towards the Egyptian border, and they would also need food, water and shelter assistance upon arrival. The release mentioned that the IOM support would include assisting the Egypt-bound migrants stranded in the Libyan port of Benghazi, about 600 km from the Egyptian border, to get to the Egyptian port city of Alexandria by boat. Bangladesh, along with other countries like Moldova, Montenegro, Nepal, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Vietnam, has formally approached the IOM for helping evacuation or repatriation of their nationals. The proposed fund would cover expenses for providing support for travel to the embarkation point, issuance of travel documents, if necessary, and arrangements for sea transport as well as reception and onward travel expenditure to final destinations in Egypt. The IOM teams are at Ras Adjir border point between Tunisia and Libya as well as at Salum between Libya and Egypt, providing assistance to migrants and assessing their needs.