Ethiopia evacuates its citizens to Tunisia, returns 29 from Libya

By Tesfa-Alem Tekle

March 25, 2011 (ADDS ABABA) – The Ethiopian government has evacuated a total of 93 citizens to Tunisia after they have been trapped in weeks of rebellion against the forty-two year rule of Libya‘s leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, state ministry of foreign affairs said on Friday.

“The Ethiopians were transported from Libya by car in two rounds and reached the outskirts of a Tunisian boarder town,” said the Ministry.

“The government along with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) will help return the Ethiopians to their homeland,”

Ethiopia said it is doing its level best for the safe return of Ethiopians living in Libya, in spite of the difficult circumstances due to the crisis in that country.

Accordingly, some 29 Ethiopians have been returned home via Tunisia and Egypt during the past few days.

Most Ethiopians in Libya are illegal immigrants and it has become difficult for Ethiopia to easily put them into the rescue operation. Around 300 Ethiopian are reported to have been registered to return home from Libya.

Ethiopia has no embassy in Libya and the repatriation operation is being carried out in cooperation with the Sudanese Embassy in Tripoli.

Mean while African Union (AU) Chief, Jean Ping, said on Friday that the 53-member block will bring together Libya government representatives and oppositions to find political solution to the turmoil in the North African country.

Both sides are said to take part at an AU meeting this weekend.

After the go-ahead from the Arab League but not the African Union at UN Security Council resolution gave a mandate for the US, UK and France to launch air attacks on the Libyan army to create a no fly zone to protect civilians.

Rebels control much of Eastern Libya after protests over Gaddafi’s authoritarian rule turned into a large scale revolt.

(ST)