The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Wednesday imposed a level 3 crisis alert, which means voluntary repatriation for Filipinos in Libya, updating the previous alert levels implemented in some parts of the African nation.
In 2019, the Libyan capital of Tripoli had been placed under alert level 4 or mandatory repatriation; while areas within its 100-kilometer radius were under alert level 2 or restricted phase.
The new alert level status was prompted by the “significant improvements” in Libya since four years ago, although the political and security conditions in Libya remain fragile.
“It is noted that Libya, despite the political divide between the east and the west, is currently not under a full-blown external attack from both sides,” the DFA said.
“Conflicts in Libya, since 2019, are localized, sporadic, and targeted at combatants, which are not features of a large-scale civil conflict, but rather of low-intensity conflicts,” it added.
Currently, there are 2,300 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Libya, who “perceive the country as safe and secure,” the DFA said.
“This perception of safety is grounded on the fact that most of the OFWs remaining in Libya are veterans of conflict, having survived the civil wars of 2011 and 2014-2020, and the fight with the Daesh that accompanied the civil wars, and have thus adapted to the instability in the country,” it added.
The DFA noted that the most pressing concerns for OFWs in Libya involved pending the labor issues.
DFA said efforts by the United Nations are also ongoing to unite the two warring governments in Libya and to unify and strengthen the country’s security apparatus.
“The DFA therefore views the updated Crisis Alert Level 3 imposed on Libya as an opportunity for the country to resolve the pending labor issues of the remaining OFWs, which would consequently bring about the condition for the gradual relaxation of the deployment ban through selective deployment,” it said.
