MANILA, Philippines – Libya has allowed Filipino workers there to leave without exit visas, the Philippines announced Friday, August 1, as the Philippines’ top diplomat oversees the repatriation of Filipinos from the strife-torn country.

The Philippines’ Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) cited information from Nasser Mustafa, its labor attaché to Tripoli, who said Libya’s Ministry of Labor “has given the authority to bring all Filipinos out of Libya even without exit visas.”

Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said this means Philippine labor officials in Libya “will no longer need to negotiate with Libyan employers to issue exit visas for their Filipino workers.”

“This also means that Filipino workers who wish to avail of the mandatory repatriation need not beg with their employers to allow them to leave Libya,” Baldoz said.

The DOLE’s announcement came as the Philippines prepares to bring around 13,000 Filipinos out of Libya, and as a Filipina nurse was kidnapped and raped on Wednesday, July 30.

The Philippines has ordered the evacuation of its nationals from Libya as it cited the “extremely unstable political and security situation there.”

‘Collapse’ of health system feared

Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario flew to Tunisia on Thursday, July 31, “to review our plan to repatriate our people from Libya on a mandatory basis.” 

Del Rosario on Thursday said the Philippines is “in the process of engaging ships from Malta” to ferry Filipinos out of Libya.

Libya, for its part, has warned of a “total collapse” of its health care system as the chaos plaguing the country threatens to send into flight many of the Filipino and Indian staff on whom its hospitals depend.

Up to 3,000 health workers from the Philippines, making up 60% of Libya’s hospital staff, could leave – along with workers from India, who account for another 20%.

Fighting between rival militias in Tripoli over the past 3 weeks and bloody clashes between Islamists and army special forces in the eastern city of Benghazi have prompted several countries to evacuate their nationals and diplomatic staff. – with reports from Agence France-Presse/Rappler.com