Written question asked by Lord Hylton (Crossbench), in the House of Lords. It was answered by Lord Howell of Guildford (Conservative) on Wednesday, 30 March 2011.

Libya

Question: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will work to ensure that foreign workers and Libyan nationals who wish to leave Libya are able to do so.

Answer: We have already been heavily involved in the evacuation and repatriation of British and foreign expatriate workers from Libya, both directly and by funding repatriation flights. The UK provided extensive logistic support for foreign workers leaving Libya, including paying for flights to secure the return home of 6,716 people from Tunisia to Egypt and Bangladesh. My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for International Development announced last week additional support to the International Organisation for Migration for a further 6,000 people. While we would not wish to see Libyan citizens prevented from leaving their country, the purpose of our implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1973 is to protect the civilian population rather than to permit the Gaddafi regime to drive its opponents into exile. We are working, including with the opposition leadership, to assess the humanitarian, stabilisation and reconstruction needs on the ground in order to determine where future international assistance might best be targeted.

Secondary information