ChemistryEquipment: UK to help migrants flee Misrata

Monday, April 18, 2011

UK to help migrants flee Misrata

The Nigerian daughter of migrant worker waits to board a relief ship leaving Misrata

Thousands of migrant workers and their families, as well as Libyans, are fleeing Misrata

New funding will be provided by the UK to help civilians in strife-torn Libya, the international development secretary has said.

Andrew Mitchell told the BBC some of the money would go towards bringing out migrant workers trapped by fighting in the city of Misrata.

The minister is attending a UN meeting in New York to discuss the humanitarian situation in Libya.

Aid workers and Misrata residents have said the situation there is "dire".

They have reported shortages of food, power, water and medicine, as forces loyal to Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi intensify their shelling of the city.

The BBC's Barbara Plett, reporting from the United Nations, said some of the most desperate civilians were thousands of migrant workers from the Middle East, Africa and South Asia.

Mr Mitchell said Britain would help fund their evacuation in ships chartered by the International Organization for Migration.

He told the BBC Britain would continue to do everything it could to press for unfettered access to people in need, and would try to ensure the international community lined up behind UN efforts to help Libyan civilians trapped by the fighting.

The rebel-held western town of Misrata has been under attack from Col Gaddafi's forces for over five weeks.

On Sunday, six civilians were reported to have died and more have been injured in a barrage of rocket fire. Pro-government fighters are also said to have shelled Ajdabiya in the east.

Also on Sunday, the UK's Department for International Development said approximately 300 civilians had been killed and a further 1,000 injured in Misrata since late February.