Libyan Crisis Highlighted Migrant Workers Plight

December 18, 2012

Migrant workers, who used to work in Libya and fled the recent unrest in the country, are seen in a refugee camp at the Tunisia-Libyan border, in Ras Ajdir, Tunisia, March 9, 2011. (AP Image)

The 2011 Libyan crisis raised awareness of the plight migrant workers face when caught in the middle of conflict. The International Organization for Migration says comprehensive, long-term plans are needed to avoid similar humanitarian and economic problems to those that developed during and after the Libyan uprising. The IOM call for a better response comes on International Migrants Day (12/18).

More than 200,000 migrants were evacuated from Libya in 2011. Most were from poor countries who had gone to Libya to find work. Some were documented, many were not.

IOM spokesman Jean-Philippe Chauzy said the issue of migrants in the midst of conflict or natural disasters is not a new one.

“I spent the summer of 2006 in Lebanon. And at the time we were evacuating mostly female domestic workers from the Philippines or Sri Lanka, Ethiopia and the rest. And I remember at the time how difficult it was to basically raise awareness of the protection and evacuation needs of those migrant workers.”

Chauzy said while the evacuation of migrant workers from Libya received international funding and was a success, it exposed some problems.