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Geneva, Switzerland (AHN) – The International Organization of Migration (IOM) has once again appealed for $160 million to help evacuate stranded refugees camped across the troubled Libyan border.

Thousands of displaced civilians continue to flee Libya, heading into neighboring Egypt and Tunisia. Other head into the Mediterranean seeking refuge in Italy or flee south to Chad and Sudan. Nearly 410,000 migrants have fled Libya since it erupted into civil war in late February.

In early March, the IOM asked for $16 million, but quickly revised their appeal up to $49 million in the same month. So far, the IOM has been pledged or received $44 million, far short of the required budget. Additional funding would allow the IOM to evacuate an additional 75,000 people.

The additional budget would also enable humanitarian assistance such as food and medical attention at the border, travel health checks for all those being evacuated and health referrals for particularly vulnerable people in addition to providing reintegration assistance to some of the returning Tunisian and Egyptian migrants.

Without funding, the organization has been forced to dramatically reduce the number of people it can evacuate on a daily basis from more than 6,000 a day at the height of its operations to a bare minimum.

This is despite the fact that at least 6,000 people are fleeing Libya each day towards Egypt and Tunisia alone and thousands more towards Chad and Niger. Those waiting for help in Tunisia and Egypt have become increasingly impatient to return home and are now looking for alternatives out of their situation.

Meanwhile, a team from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) arrived in Tripoli on March 30 at the invitation of Libyan authorities. The aim is to discuss the expansion of the organization’s humanitarian activities. The ICRC now has a presence in Benghazi, Tobruk and Ajdabiya to provide basic essentials to the stranded, most vulnerable, the injured and to the major hospital facilities.

IOM staff on the ground reports that that long evacuation delays caused by a lack of funds is forcing some migrants to turn to human smugglers to take them to other countries.

“The crisis is far from over. More than ever, we appeal to donors to maintain stamina. We are in this for the long haul and we have to collectively ensure that the plight of those fleeing the violence in Libya is not prolonged due to a lack of funds,” states IOM Director General William Lacy Swing. [ENDS]

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