Evacuees narrate harrowing experience

Accra, March 2, GNA - A number of the Ghanaian evacuees from Libya have told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Accra about their harrowing experiences in the oil-rich North African State hit by political crisis.

27-year-old Sam Mohammed, who was part of the second batch of 95 Ghanaians to be evacuated from Libya on Tuesday, said he had not eaten for four days and only survived on water.


He claimed that some Libyans openly voiced their disdain to Africans with dark skin, adding that while trying to escape the political turmoil a number of them were stopped, harassed and threatened with death.


"Some said they would not allow us to leave and that the only way we could survive was to stay and fight alongside them against Muammar Gaddafi," he said.


"Many people are afraid to leave their homes because leaving your home is a big risk."


Mohammed said many blacks including himself were robbed of their possessions and money by rampaging Libyans.


He said luck was on their side when some friendly Libyans "brought us through the Egyptian border safely and did not even collect a penny from us".

Abdul Razak, also 27 told the GNA that "things have not been easy. when the crisis started, we thought it would end in the course of time but that did not happen".


He said rumours that Gaddafi was using black mercenaries to fight for him endangered the lives of a number of Africans.


He described the city of Benghazi where he and his colleagues stayed, as a very tough zone saying: "I thank God that we have reached Ghana safely."


Meanwhile a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, says a six- member team, including medical personnel from the 37 Military Hospital, had left Accra for Cairo to augment the Evaluation Liaison post at Salum, a border post on the Egypt-Libya border. The team would co-ordinate the evacuation of the Ghanaian nationals from Libya.


The International Organisation for Migration and the Egyptian Security Agencies are assisting in efforts to evacuate the Ghanaians. Fifty-five (55) Ghanaian evacuees were flown to Accra on board an Egyptian commercial flight last Saturday. 2