IOM Evacuates Senegalese Migrants from Libya

GENEVA, Switzerland, May 26, 2015/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- IOM Libya yesterday evacuated 142 Senegalese migrants from Misrata and Tripoli, Libya via Djerba airport in Tunisia. The group arrived in Dakar this morning (26/5), and was met at the airport by Secretary of State for Senegalese Abroad Souleymane Jules Diop. The fourth such evacuation in recent months, this latest group included nine minors.

This latest evacuation comes one month after IOM received a request from the Senegalese Embassy to help 187 stranded Senegalese nationals in Kararim detention centre in Misrata and another 10 in Tripoli.

IOM worked in coordination with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which worked on the registration and photographed applicants. The information was shared with the Senegalese Embassy in Tunisia to enable them to issue travel documents in Tunis.

The Libyan Red Crescent interviewed and conducted the medical screening for all the Senegalese in Kararim centre and also provided transportation from the detention centre in Misrata to Tripoli and then to the Tunisian border at Ras Jdir. This involved a convoy of three buses, an ambulance and a two-vehicle police escort.

This latest evacuation was carried out under the IOM's European Union-funded “START” project: “Stabilizing at risk communities and enhancing migration management to enable smooth transition in Egypt Libya and Tunisia” which has invested nearly EUR 10 million in the region since 2012.

Since the crisis in Libya began, IOM has assisted over 800 stranded migrants to leave Libya and travel back to their countries of origin. For some vulnerable groups, IOM continues to provide support after their arrival back home.