Minister in Tunis to oversee OFWs rescue

Filipino contract workers awaiting evacuation by Philippine embassy officials in Amal Area in Libya

The Philippines’ foreign secretary left for Tunisia to oversee the evacuation of Filipinos from Libya as fleeing workers began to arrive home, a spokesman said yesterday.
Albert del Rosario left for Tunis Friday evening amid growing concern over the welfare of tens of thousands of Filipinos in Libya.
"Secretary del Rosario decided it was best that he went to Tunis himself to make sure that the evacuation is going on smoothly,” said Ed Malaya, spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs.
Yesterday, 36 Filipino workers from Libya arrived in Manila from Paris, where they were taken by their employer, a French construction company, after fleeing Tripoli.
They were among 97 Filipino employees of the French firm that were expected to arrive in Manila in batches Saturday.
A migrants organisation criticized the Philippine government’s slow response to help its citizens in Libya while some relatives complained of a lack of information.
About 26,000 Filipinos are in Libya. The Department of Labour and Employment estimated that 13,000 of them would need help to evacuate amid the escalating violence as government security forces confront protesters seeking leader Moamer Gaddafi’s ouster. Hundreds and possibly thousands of demonstrators have been killed.
The Foreign Affairs Department said 134 Filipinos had left Libya while 300 others were being evacuated by their employer to a safe area in Tripoli.
The department has made arrangements for ferries to take Filipinos from Tripoli to Malta and those from Benghazi to Crete.
Flag-carrier Philippine Airlines has offered to mount emergency flights to evacuate Filipinos fleeing the unrest in Libya while the air force also placed its lone C-130 transport plane on standby.
Beijing said yesterday nearly 16,000 Chinese nationals have been evacuated from strife-torn Libya, where a popular uprising has left hundreds dead.
The foreign ministry said Chinese citizens had been sent to Greece, Tunisia, Egypt and Malta where they were waiting for government-chartered planes and commercial flights to take them back to China "as soon as possible”.
The Civil Aviation Administration of China agreed yesterday to send 15 aircraft a day for the next two weeks to speed up the evacuation of Chinese citizens.
About 700 Chinese nationals have so far returned to China, the statement said.
China has ramped up a massive air, sea and land operation to evacuate more than 30,000 citizens from oil-rich Libya, as violence in the North African country escalates.
According to state media, Chinese citizens living in Libya work mainly in the oil, rail and telecom sectors.
Terrified residents in the capital Tripoli were braced for bloody battles yesterday after a night of gunfire as Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi said he was ready to arm civilian supporters to defeat the popular revolt. DPA