BEIRUT: More than 100 relieved Lebanese nationals arrived home Wednesday as part of the first wave of what is hoped will be a full-scale evacuation from the war-torn Ivory Coast.

On the final leg of their journey from the Ivory Coast, 126 Lebanese arrived on MEA Flight 574 from Accra, landing at Rafik Hariri International Airport at 8:00 atu.m. Wednesday.

The passengers, consisting mostly of families, were greeted on their arrival by the director general of the Foreign Ministry, Haitham Joumaa, at the head of a ministry delegation.

Joumaa said he and ministry officials would be traveling to Ivory Coast Thursday to continue the evacuation process. “Tomorrow we will travel to Ivory Coast with the delegation from Foreign Ministry to follow up on the developments as closely as we have been doing in the past,” he told reporters at Rafik Hariri International Airport.

The delegation will be the first to visit war-torn Ivory Coast since the start of the conflict in November last year, and will assist those wishing to return to Lebanon.

On hand to greet the weary travelers were Marjayoun-Hasbaya MP Ali Fayyad and Sheikh Ghaleb Kajak, as well as many parents and relatives, who were visibly relieved and elated by the safe homecoming of their family members from Ivory Coast.

“We have come to welcome our family members returning from the Ivory Coast, and our hearts are with those who remain there. We are deeply affected by all that we hear and read, and unfortunately, we have heard reports of discrimination in dealings with the Lebanese, despite the presence of international forces in Abidjan,” said Fayyad.

The Hezbollah MP said that while Beirut’s reaction to the crisis was “late,” he called Wednesday’s arrival a “step in the right direction.”

A number of the Lebanese returning from Abidjan criticized the Lebanese government’s slow response to calls for assistance and evacuation by the expatriate community in the Ivory Coast, and some expressed their gratitude toward the French forces and French citizens for helping move them to Lomé, from where they traveled to Ghana and on to Beirut.

“We live in a building where a French family resides,” said Khadija Ghaddar. “They offered to take us with them to the French base and they provided us with food and child care necessities. There were over 1,500 Lebanese at the base, and we could not be more grateful to the French.”

Assad Zeaiter, who has worked in Abidjan since 1994, said, “the situation is very bad. There have been two Lebanese casualties, but the financial losses are huge. The number of Lebanese in the country totals 80,000, and they are all facing hardships.”

Imad Suleiman, who has been in Abidjan for 15 years said “what happened can be compared to a disaster.”

“We haven’t slept in a week,” he said. “We left with the French and we are so grateful for their efforts. I hope the Lebanese authorities will make every effort to protect the Lebanese in the Ivory Coast and ensure their safety, particularly in light of the heavy financial losses they have suffered.”

Referring to politicians’ haphazard approach to aiding Lebanese communities abroad, Suleiman continued by saying, “I hope that this concern with the diaspora won’t be limited to when there are elections, and a need for people’s votes.”

Airport authority personnel in Beirut took all possible measures to process the affairs of the passengers and ease their arrival.

Lebanon’s ambassador to Ivory Coast has indicated that while thousands of Lebanese are anxious to leave, they could change their minds if the situation stabilizes. The disputed presidential election in November, which pitted President Laurent Gbagbo against rival Alassane Ouattara, sparked violence that encouraged Lebanese in Ivory Coast to begin encouraging family members to return to Lebanon until the crisis ended.

But the fighting became more intense in recent weeks, and has resulted in a standoff in Abdijan between the rival sides.

Joumaa pledged that the government’s efforts would bear fruit as he continues his task from Africa, and said that the current troubles would not mean an uprooting of Lebanese from their second home.

“The Lebanese will never leave the Ivory Coast because their work, income and future are there, and they have been present in that African country since 1904 and their continued presence there is necessary,” Joumaa said.