The escalating political tension in Libya urged the Philippine government to raise the alert level in this Middle Eastern country to 4. This alert level demands mandatory evacuation and repatriation of Filipinos and the cost will be shouldered by the government. According to the data from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), an estimate of 1,600 Filipinos are still in Tripoli and other cities in Libya. Many of them are working as nurses and medical workers. The sad news is that out of this number, only 91 Filipinos expressed their wiliness to be repatriated.

The Philippine Embassy in Libya is closely monitoring the situation 24/7 and the hotline numbers of the DFA for families of Filipinos who are in Libya are still open: 834-3240, 834-3245, and 834-3333.

Read the full article on Libya news here.