Nine Mizdah attack survivors among 164 Libya returnees: IOM
Nine survivors of the gruesome Mizdah attack in May were among 164 Bangladeshis who were repatriated in a chartered flight from war-torn Libya this week, International Organisation for Migration said yesterday.
Also on the flight were over 100 other vulnerable migrants, including 39 with medical conditions, IOM said in a statement.
The flight carrying a total of 164 Bangladeshis landed at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on Wednesday.
The UN migration agency's medical escorts travelled with the migrants and upon arrival, health teams were on site to coordinate healthcare for migrants who will undergo quarantine at government facilities.
Eligible migrants will receive reintegration support once they have completed their government-mandated quarantine period. Follow-up care is particularly important for migrants that experienced physical and psychological trauma while stranded in Libya, IOM said.
In May this year, 30 migrants including 26 from Bangladesh were shot and killed in a smuggling warehouse in Mizdah, near the city of Gharyan, southwest of Tripoli.
The deadly attack also left 11 migrants critically injured, who IOM and partners have supported in subsequent months.
Giorgi Gigauri, chief of mission of IOM Bangladesh, said Covid-19 has exacerbated the vulnerabilities of migrant workers across the world and that they were working to overcome movement and other restrictions to access vulnerable migrants who are stranded and in need of support.
"We are working closely with the government, in particular the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment, to ensure migrants' access to health services, shelter, food, consular services, and for the most vulnerable -- flights home," said Giorgi.
Since March, IOM in coordination with the government's Communicable Disease Control has been working at Dhaka airport to build the capacity of point of entry staff to identify, screen, and refer travelers with Covid-19 symptoms.
Aside from on-arrival assistance to migrants, IOM also provides tele-counselling, health referrals and follow-ups, skills diversification and financial literacy training, and reintegration support to the most vulnerable returning migrants.
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