Irish officials printed makeshift boarding passes to bypass security at Tripoli airport – although their efforts also drew criticism, writes CARL O'BRIEN
THE MAKESHIFT “boarding pass” for the Irish Government aircraft isn’t exactly convincing. Run off on a photocopier at short notice and printed on yellow paper, it bears all the hallmarks of an improvised job.
But it was enough to circumvent tight security at Tripoli airport last week when authorities were refusing to allow large numbers of aircraft to either land or take off.
“We had some indication that they might look for something like this,” says Brendan Ward, a senior official at the Department of Foreign Affairs, in a nod towards Libya’s notorious bureaucracy.
“We printed off a couple of hundred of them and they were duly stamped by the Libyan authorities.”
It was one small example of the kind of measures that Irish officials were taking behind to scenes to bypass security restrictions and assist in the evacuation of Irish and EU citizens.
In all, three Irish aircraft were sent to the region and about 20 officials were involved in the rescue effort. Latest figures indicate that upwards of 115 Irish citizens have been safely evacuated from the country.
But the evacuation effort has drawn sharp criticism from a number of people who returned to Ireland this week.
Most of it focused on poor information and bad advice, with some saying they were forced to wait days to get out of the country or find their own way through ports and other aircraft.
When employees from Mercury Engineering arrived into Dublin airport during the week, one said the quality of information from Irish and British authorities was “diabolical”. A teacher, Claire Walsh from Kildare, was also critical after spending a frightening 26 hours waiting at Tripoli’s airport, as heavily armed mercenaries surrounded the city.
“Nobody looked for us,” she told reporters. “There was no communication with me. They did absolutely nothing to help me. They were completely useless.”
Department officials say they are aware of the distress and anguish faced by some citizens and are conscious of criticism which the department says it is taking on board. However, they insist everything possible was done to assist citizens within the limits of the dangerous security situation and considerable communications problems.
“I think we did the best possible job,” says Ward, who was part of a Government team that was based in Malta and Libya shortly after the crisis erupted. “We don’t have an embassy there, unlike many other countries, we don’t have frigates.”
When the crisis began, the department says it mobilised its crisis centre with a dedicated helpline around the clock to assist families. In addition, Air Corps aircraft were sent to Malta to assist, along with a team of Government officials trained in civilian rescue and response.
One criticism levelled at the Government was that on Wednesday of last week, one of the planes landed at Tripoli but left the airport without any passengers on board. While the plane was given clearance to land, Irish officials were refused entry to the airport because they did not have visas. Some questioned why Irish officials flew there in the first place.
“You’re dealing with a collapsing state,” says Ward. “At that point, we were faced with the option of making an attempt to land – and knowing that it might fail – or waiting until we were certain to succeed, which wouldn’t have happened anyway.”
Later in the week Irish officials did get visas – with difficulty – and were able to assist in the rescue effort. All the while, department officials say communication was a problem due to jamming of phone signals and the rapidly changing security situation in the country.
“The Libyans had effectively closed the mobile phone network, which was a key way of communicating with Irish citizens. They also appeared to be jamming satellite phone signals. When we arrived into Tripoli, our walkie-talkie radios were confiscated, so when we were in the airport we couldn’t communicate with the plane outside . . . So that was a real problem.”
While some suggested that Irish aircraft should have been used to evacuate Irish citizens only, this was never credible.
“It’s a common misconception that each member state evacuates its own,” says Ward. “But this was a co-operative effort between countries. We were bringing something to the table as part of an an international effort.”
As for now, officials say all citizens who wish to leave Libya have done so. Those who remain are Libyan-Irish who do not wish to leave. The department says it is maintaining contact with them in case their circumstances change.