U.S., Partners Airlift People Fleeing Libyan Violence
By Charlene Porter
Staff Writer
Washington - The United States is boosting its effort to help people displaced from Libya find their way home. President Obama announced March 3 that U.S. planes will fly Egyptian citizens home from Tunisia, where they fled to escape weeks of violence in neighboring Libya.
"I've authorized [the U.S. Agency for International Development] to charter additional civilian aircraft to help people from other countries find their way home," Obama said. "And we're supporting the efforts of international organizations to evacuate people as well."
Obama made the announcement as an internationally backed airlift began, with more than 50 flights carrying migrant workers home. At the same time, a tent city sprang up in Tunisia's barren borderlands as relief agencies worked to provide shelter for tens of thousands fleeing unrest in Libya.
Egypt, France, Italy and the United Kingdom all contributed to the airlift, working with the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Earlier in the week, UNHCR implored the international community to provide more transportation home for an estimated 180,000 foreign workers who feel threatened in Libya and want to leave.
Obama emphasized the ongoing U.S. commitment to that effort, but also underscored what must be the final outcome to this mounting crisis.
"The violence must stop. Muammar Qadhafi has lost legitimacy to lead, and he must leave," Obama said.
Tunisian, Egyptian and foreign workers from sub-Saharan Africa and East Asia are dashing to borders on both the east and west of Libya, fleeing a three-week rebellion that has met violent retaliation from the Qadhafi government.
IOM began overland evacuations of migrants out of the Libyan port city of Benghazi on March 3. The first evacuees were about 200 migrants, described by IOM as women, children and those in need of medical assistance.
IOM estimates some 5,500 foreign workers remain in Benghazi alone, with perhaps thousands more elsewhere in Libya, fearful they may be targeted if they attempt to reach the border for evacuation to their home countries.
The U.N. General Assembly voted March 1 to suspend Libya from the Human Rights Council because of the government's retaliatory actions. After the vote, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said , "The international community is speaking with one voice and our message is unmistakable: These violations of universal rights are unacceptable and will not be tolerated."
The U.S. State Department's Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration has contributed $2 million to the IOM assistance efforts. The U.S. Agency for International Development has pledged $10 million to assist the victims of the violence and the United Nations is tapping its Central Emergency Response Fund for $5 million to scale up humanitarian efforts on the Libyan-Tunisian border.
(This is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. )
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