The appeal is likely to be for tens of millions of dollars at least
LONDON (AlertNet) - The U.N. aid chief will launch an appeal on Monday for international funding to help those caught up in Libya's escalating violence, including tens of thousands of migrant workers who have fled into neighbouring countries, a U.N. spokeswoman said on Thursday.
U.N. Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Amos plans to visit the border between Tunisia and Libya over the weekend. She will then head to Geneva to brief donor governments on Monday morning, and request their support for humanitarian operations in Egypt, Tunisia and Niger - the main destinations for migrants who have streamed out of Libya in recent days - as well as inside Libya.
Officials are still working out how much to ask for in the regional appeal for the Libya crisis, which will cover the needs of U.N. agencies and organisations they work with for three months.
"The goal is to move people safely from the borders and prepare U.N. agencies and their partners for further humanitarian operations once they have an assessment of the situation (inside Libya)," said Elisabeth Byrs, a Geneva-based spokeswoman for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
Based on funding already requested by individual agencies, the appeal is likely to be for tens of millions of dollars at least, although overall needs are far from clear due to problems of access inside Libya, where battles between security forces supporting leader Muammar Gaddafi and opposition fighters are raging.
The initial appeal is expected to be revised upwards in the coming weeks as aid workers get a better handle on the extent of the humanitarian emergency.
On Wednesday, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) released $5 million from the U.N.'s Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to kick-start efforts to help those trying to escape the bloody unrest in Libya. This money will be counted against the upcoming appeal.
The CERF was established by the U.N. General Assembly five years ago to make funding for humanitarian emergencies faster and more equitable.
The allocation for Libya will go primarily towards scaling up humanitarian operations along the Libyan-Tunisian border, OCHA said in a statement.
"Of the huge numbers of people crossing the border daily, many are arriving with nothing, and thousands have been left stranded, with immediate humanitarian needs for shelter, food and adequate water and sanitation facilities," the agency said.
It noted an "urgent need" to boost efforts to help immigrant workers travel from Libya's borders back to their home countries across Africa and Asia. Many of the migrants lack official papers.
"The United Nations and partners are already working closely with authorities in Egypt, Tunisia and Niger to meet basic needs and facilitate onward travel, but as the situation escalates it is evident that a much larger response is required," OCHA said.
CASH, LOGISTICS NEEDED FOR EVACUATIONS
While accurate statistics are unavailable, Libya is thought to host around 1.5 million informal migrants. A report released by OCHA on Wednesday cited embassy sources in Cairo confirming that in addition to up to 1 million Egyptians working in Libya, the country also hosts around 80,000 Pakistanis, 59,000 Sudanese, 50,000 Bangladeshis, 26,000 Filipinos, 2,000 Nepalese, and other African and Asian migrant workers.
On Thursday, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said almost 200,000 migrants have now crossed into Tunisia, Egypt and Niger in the past few days. The IOM will have helped around 10,000 leave for home by the weekend.
The intergovernmental agency has begun its first evacuations of migrants out of the northeastern Libyan port city of Benghazi, which is controlled by the opposition, giving priority to around 200 particularly vulnerable people, mostly women, children and those in need of medical assistance.
Some 5,500 migrants have so far been identified at the port and in surrounding warehouses, mostly from Bangladesh, India and Sudan, but also including small groups of Syrians, Ghanaians and other nationalities.
Last Friday, the intergovernmental agency appealed for $11 million to support its evacuation operations, of which it has received over half - $2 million from the U.S. government, $0.5 million from Switzerland and around $4 million from the European Commission. Other countries, including Britain and France, are contributing planes to fly migrants home.
"We need more logistical help, but we also need more money," said Jemini Pandya, an IOM spokeswoman in Geneva. "To help everyone, you would be looking at tens and tens of millions of dollars because the vast majority of foreign workers are still stuck there (inside Libya)."
One African migrant told the IOM that between 6,000 and 10,000 migrants were trapped in Khomees, including families and pregnant women from West African countries, China and the Philippines. Shops are running out of food, people are getting sick, and fear of repercussions against foreigners means they are too afraid to step out of doors, the IOM said.
Other groups are stranded in large numbers in Sirte, Tripoli, Wazem and Misrata, many without documents and passports which have been taken by their employers.
The U.N. World Food Programme has launched a $38.7 million emergency operation to provide food assistance to 2.7 million people in Libya, Egypt and Tunisia for three months.
And the U.N. Children's Fund is requesting $7.2 million to address the urgent needs of children and women affected by the crisis. Two UNICEF charter flights are expected to reach the capitals of Tunisia and Egypt in the coming days with over 160 tonnes of supplies - including hygiene kits, and nutrition and recreation items.
Some will be used to assist those who have reached the Egyptian and Tunisian borders, and the rest will be pre-positioned for a possible response inside Libya.
The funding requests made by the IOM and U.N. agencies in the past week will be wrapped into the overall appeal to be launched on Monday.
Separately, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has asked for 6 million Swiss francs ($6.4 million) to ensure adequate surgical and medical care for those wounded in the violent unrest inside Libya, as well as aid for people who have fled into Tunisia and Egypt.
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