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Filipinos among thousands to be evacuated from Chad
The French government announced that it is ready to evacuate all foreign nationals in the strife-torn Chad, including more than 300 Filipinos.
- By Estrella Torres, Correspondent
- Published: 00:21 February 11, 2008
Manila: The French government announced that it is ready to evacuate all foreign nationals in the strife-torn Chad, including more than 300 Filipinos.
The French embassy in Manila said the move was based on the decision of the Council of the European Union in Brussels that France should be the "pilot state" as far as consular protection in Chad in concerned.
The aim of evacuating foreigners from Chad is to improve the protection of nationals of EU member states, especially at a time of crisis in other countries. "The mission of the pilot state is to coordinate protection measures for all European nationals in a time of crisis [information, assembly areas, evacuation if necessary].
Experimenting
"At this stage the member states are experimenting with this concept in third countries, where not more than two EU members are present. This is the case in Chad where only France and Germany are represented," said a statement of the French embassy in Manila.
The French embassy noted that so far France had evacuated a total of 1,231 people. These include 491 French and 740 other nationals, including 64 Americans, 52 Swiss, 48 Chadians, 32 Koreans and 19 Indians.
So far, there have been no Filipinos among the foreign nationals evacuated from the African country. The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) earlier said that more than 300 Filipino workers in Chad remain safe and all accounted for. Nearly all the Filipinos in Chad are employed by the oil firm Esso.
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