Hundreds of stranded Chadian migrants, majority of whom are women
and children have been airlifted out of the Southern Libyan town of
Sebha and flown back to the Chadian capital N'Djamena onboard IOM
chartered flights.

Some 370 vulnerable individuals who had spent weeks living in
the open with limited access to food, water and health services,
have so far been evacuated together with their belongings . More
IOM flights are lined up in the coming days to assist up to 2,000
Chadian and other African migrants marooned in Sebha and in
Gatroun, a town further to the south.

"Despite their ordeal, the migrants were deeply appreciative of
the support they received from the local population and
authorities," says IOM's Dr. Qasim Sufi, who is leading the
evacuation effort. "They sang as they boarded the plane. Many women
and children said they hope to be reunited with their 
husbands and fathers as families were split in the early days of
the crisis."

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The returnees were met on arrival in N'Djamena by IOM staff and
provided with food, shelter and assistance to return to their towns
and villages primarily in the regions of Kanem, Lac, Ouaddai and
Bahr El Gazel.

Most of the migrants had been employed for many years in Libya,
working menial jobs in the informal sector of the economy in cities
such as Kufra, Misrata, Al Jufra, Sebha and elsewhere.

Prior to their departure, IOM staff in Sebha distributed water,
food and hygiene materials purchased from the local market to the
stranded migrants. Medical checks were carried out with the support
of the Libyan Red Crescent. Serious cases, like the case of a woman
suffering from acute TB, are referred to Sebha general hospital.
One migrant needed a wheelchair because of gunshot wounds he
received in his thigh while fleeing the fighting. The wheelchair
was provided by the airport authorities.

IOM staff on the ground in Sebha have already identified a
location to set up a transit centre which will initially
accommodate 500 persons who will receive food, water, shelter and
medical care.

Work with the Libyan authorities, clan elders and both Chadian,
Nigerien (and other) consular officers is on-going to help identify
other groups of migrants in need of humanitarian and evacuation
assistance. Already the Chadian consulate in Sebha has received
more than 100 requests for registration and evacuation from Chadian
nationals across Libya, upon hearing the news of the IOM
airlifts.

"The five-month closure of the airport in Sebha meant that the
most vulnerable migrants had lost all hope of being evacuated,"
says Sufi. "Now that the news of the operation is going around, we
expect many more desperate migrants to request assistance in the
coming days."

IOM continues to organize land transport for stranded migrants
along the 320 kilometres desert stretch from Gatroun to Sebha as
many women, children and elderly migrants were unable to leave
because of sporadic clashes, banditry and a lack of local
transport.

More than 70,000 Chadian migrants have retuned from Libya over
the past four months, most of the time, empty-handed. Their
homecoming means that remittances they used to send back to their
families in Chad have also dried up, making them even more
vulnerable at a time of worsening food insecurity.

"The ripple effect of the Libyan crisis will continue to be felt
by families in Chad and the region for many months to come," says
IOM's Qasim Sufi. "The international community needs to commit
additional resources to those countries which have also been
affected by the recent crisis in Cote d'Ivoire and by the economic
downturn in Europe."

IOM's assessment and evacuation operation from Gatroun and Sebha
is funded by the European Commission's Humanitarian and Civil Aid
department (ECHO), and the US and German governments.

For further information, please contact:

Qasim Sufi, in Southern Libya

Tel: + 218 944 10 68 94

or

Jumbe Omari Jumbe

Tel: +41.22.717.9405 / +41.79.812.7734

E-mail: "mailto:jjumbe@iom.int">jjumbe@iom.int