Philippines urges its nationals out of Libya after beheading, rape
Manila tells its citizens to leave Libya following atrocities that have seen a domestic worker raped and a building worker beheaded
The Philippines renewed calls for thousands of its nationals to leave Libya on Thursday after a Filipina nurse was abducted and gang-raped, and a Filipino construction worker was beheaded.
The foreign department in Manila said all 13,000 Filipinos in Libya were to be repatriated as clashes between rival militias threaten to tear the country apart three years after dictator Muammar Gaddafi was toppled.
“We reiterate our call to our remaining nationals in Libya to immediately get in touch with the Philippine embassy in Tripoli and register for repatriation,” said a fresh foreign department advisory issued on Thursday.
The call came as the ministry confirmed reports that a Filipina nurse was abducted and gang-raped there on Wednesday.
The woman was seized outside her residence and taken to an unknown location, where she was sexually assaulted by up to six youths, foreign department spokesman Charles Jose told reporters.
She was released about two hours later and a Filipino consular team took her to hospital for treatment, he added.
