Vietnam will use all means necessary to return its labourers home from Libya, even hiring military aircraft from neighbouring countries.
Some of the first Vietnamese labourers returned home from Libya
At a meeting on February 28 in Hanoi, Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, appointed rescue teams with the mandate to use all means of transport, including airplanes and ships to take the Vietnamese nationals back home.
She added that, in necessary cases, military aircraft should be hired from China, South Korea and Malaysia in order to bring Vietnamese citizens back to safety.
Minister Ngan also called for more support from the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) in protecting the nationals.
Thousands of workers still stuck in Libya, evacuation faces difficulties
At the meeting, Nguyen Ngoc Quynh, Chief of the Department of Overseas Labour Management, said that as of today, 8,161 Vietnamese labourers have been sent from Libya to neighboring countries, including 991 to Egypt, 242 to Greece, 1,378 to Malta, 557 to Turkey and 292 to Tunisia.
However, nearly 4,000 Vietnamese nationals are still stuck in the politically tumultuous country. 2,000 of them are expected to be evacuated in coming days. Meanwhile, the rescue activities face their own difficulties; lack of means of transport, and complicated evacuation procedures.
Many Libyan contractors have been slow to finish procedures in taking Vietnamese workers back home. Another problem is that Vietnam does not have any representative agencies in Tunisia.
Hard times for Vietnamese workers
DTiNews received information from scores of Vietnamese labourers stranded in Sirt City, Libya, via email and phone, informing us about the challenges they face.
Mr. Nguyen Van Duy said that they are living in tents and conditions are crowded. Over the past three days, food has run out and they have been forced to drink rain water collected in old buckets.
The people in Duy’s tent shared food equally in order to survive the ordeal. Many have become fatigued and sick from lack of food, Duy added. They hear gunfire at night.
According to Mr. Duy, their passports have been lost, so that leaving is difficult. “We have contacted the Vietnamese embassy in Tripoli and we know that they are doing their best to help us.”
Talking to DTiNews, NguyenVan Hiep, General Director of MEC said his firm has taken over 200 labourers back home and will continue their efforts to return the more than 2,000 others who are still stuck in Libya.
Below are some pictures that Vietnamese labourers stranded in Sirt City took on February 28 and sent exclusively to DTiNews.
Despite desperate times, food is shared communally
Pieces of bread and water reserved for the sick and elderly
Vietnamese labourers stranded in Sirt City
