Major rescue effort to get 6,000 Europeans out of Libya

A MAJOR rescue strategy has been launched to help an estimated 6,000 Europeans trapped in Libya to escape the country.

Experts in Brussels painted a picture of considerable chaos with planes with empty seats having to leave the main airport in Tripoli despite the thousands waiting to leave. The numbers registering at their country’s consulates in Tripoli had reached 10,000 earlier this week and many had already left.

Ships, including military vessels, are on their way or are being mobilised to rescue people who want to leave the north African country. The main problem is how to get out an estimated 1,000 EU citizens trapped in Benghazi, the city where the worst fighting has taken place but whose airport has been destroyed.

The European Commission has asked member states to let them know what transport, including military ships, they can make available to evacuate people.

Already the German government has deployed three warships for Libya while the French have used transport aircraft to evacuate more than 500 of their citizens. The British have also deployed a warship and a number of Royal Air Force planes to rescue its citizens.

Military planes are managing to land in Tripoli where the authorities are reported to be co-operative. Ambassadors from EU countries with embassies in Tripoli are helping coordinate the situation with the EU, UN and others.

A number of countries including Austria are using trucks from neighbouring Tunisia to get to its citizens but there are reports of them having to wait at least 24 hours for clearance.

As well as looking after European citizens, many of them who work on the oil fields, the EU is also considering how to cope with an expected exodus of refugees from the country.

So far no Libyans have been reported leaving and making their way towards Europe so far. But there are fears that the longer the violence continues the more likely this is to happen.

Italy’s Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said that as many as 300,000 Libyans could try to flee the country. There are up to 1.5 million others, mostly from sub-Sahara Africa in the country who would also like to get out, he added.