Libya evacuation ‘winding down’

THE Department of Foreign Affairs has said all Irish nationals who want to be evacuated from Libya have now been removed leaving only long-term residents who wish to remain in the country.

A family group and one other Irish national last night became the latest to return to Ireland on the government jet, arriving into Baldonnel at 10pm.

Also onboard were members of the Irish Consular assistance team who have been organising the evacuation of Irish people from Libya.

A further group of Irish nationals arrived in yesterday morning after being evacuated by sea from Benghazi on Sunday.

“All Irish nationals who were seeking to leave Libya have now done so,” the Department of Foreign Affairs said. “A very small number remain in Libya. All are long-term residents.”

A department spokesman said the international evacuation operation is winding down.

“The department wil, however, maintain a watching brief on the situation. We continue to remain in contact with our nationals in the country and their families in Ireland and will provide all assistance we can.”

To-date, the Department of Foreign Affairs has assisted in 115 evacuations from the country. Irish embassies in Italy, Malta, Greece and Britain are all assisting Irish evacuees on arrival in those countries in obtaining accommodation and in making onward flight arrangements.

The United Nations says more than 100,000 people have left Libya in the past week.

The Red Cross estimates around 1,000 refugees are arriving on Tunisia’s border every hour.

Aid workers in Tunisia say it is being overrun with about 30,000 refugees — many of them Egyptians — stranded and in need of food and shelter.