UN Egypt staff expected in Cyprus

THE UN Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) has made arrangements to receive up to 600 UN staff and their dependents based in Egypt today at Larnaca airport.

“Due to the security situation, UN personnel will be temporarily relocated out of Egypt. However, essential activities of the UN will continue there,” said UNFICYP spokesman Rolando Gomez yesterday.

“We have planned this in close coordination with the government to which we are very grateful for their assistance,” he added.

There have been calls from within Egypt for the UN to keep its presence there but the increasingly volatile situation has led UN decision-makers to call for a pull out of “less essential” personnel, leaving behind a skeleton staff in the troubled country.

From those being evacuated, some might be relocated to Dubai while others will come to Cyprus.

The UN has some 350 UN staff working in Egypt plus dependents.

“We’ve made arrangements for four UN-chartered flights to land (at Larnaca airport) beginning at 1pm (today),” said Gomez, adding, “We are ready to receive our colleagues”.

Hotels and transport from the airport have already been arranged for the hundreds of UN staff expected to arrive throughout the afternoon.

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