Six Filipinos, one Thai evacuated from Libya

Manila: Six Filipinos and one Thai citizen were evacuated from Libya on Monday, the Philippine embassy in Tripoli announced on Tuesday, state media reported.

Chargé d’Affaires Elmer Cato said they took the number of Filipinos repatriated to Manila to 99 since the conflict in Tripoli began four months ago.

Among the latest batch of repatriates was a Thai national married to one of the six Filipinos who had requested assistance from the embassy.

The embassy provided the Thai national with food and shelter while awaiting evacuation; facilitated the issuance of his exit and transit visas; and transported him to Tunis, according to state media.

Cato said this "was in line with the instructions of Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr" for the embassy to open its doors to distressed nationals from other Southeast Asian countries.

Cato said the evacuees, who include four female nurses, a male teacher, and a male worker, "are now on their way to Tunis where they will take their flight to the Philippines."

Violent clashes continue to rage in the outskirts of the Libyan capital. Last month, a migration detention centre in Tripoli was hit by an airstrike killing 40 and injuring 80.

On Monday, a second major drone strike was reported on the southern Libyan town of Murzuq killing at least 43 and wounding 51 others.

In his statement, Cato stated that the embassy remains ready to assist any of the remaining 1,000 Filipinos still in Tripoli who may want to be repatriated.

The embassy is also on standby to assist Filipinos displaced by the ongoing fighting, he added.

Three other Filipinos have requested the assistance of the embassy and will be repatriated as soon as Libyan authorities issue their exit visas, Cato said.