Efforts underway to rescue Vietnamese in Libya
Vietnam is working with its partners on
procedures to evacuate over 4,500 Vietnamese workers in Libya to
neighbouring countries like Egypt, Turkey, Malta, Greece, the United
Arab Emirates and Tunisia, said the Ministry of Labour, War Invalids and
Social Affairs (MoLISA).
Of the evacuees, 412 workers have
already been brought to a third country and 282 others have been put on a
flight to Vietnam on Feb. 25, the ministry said at a meeting with
Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and relevant ministries and agencies in
Hanoi on Feb. 25.
According to the MoLISA report, as many as
10,482 Vietnamese construction workers are working in Libya, mostly on
projects of foreign companies from Turkey, Greece, Germany and
Brazil.
Of the labourers, about 2,000 work in Benghazi city,
where protests were firstly reported, and about 5,000 others in
Tripoli, where protests are taking place.
Unrest in Libya
severely affected life, work and safety of the labourers, MoLISA said,
adding that most Vietnamese workers have been stood down. In addition to
safety concerns, the workers are faced with a lack of food.
MoLISA
has been working closely with the Foreign Ministry to instruct
Vietnamese representative agencies abroad to receive and ensure
procedures for the workers to help them return home.
However, the
return faces difficulties, particularly means of transport from Libya
to a third country, due to paralysis of all operations in the
northern African nation.
At the meeting, PM Dung spoke highly of
efforts made by relevant ministries and agencies to evacuate and ensure
safety for the Vietnamese workers in Libya, urging them to promptly
bring the workers home in a safe and orderly manner.
He asked the
Foreign Ministry, MoLISA, the Ministry of Public Security and the
Defence Ministry to send more representatives, including a deputy
foreign minister, to Libya, to discuss safety for the Vietnamese
labourers with relevant local authorities and companies employing
Vietnamese workers. In the immediate future, all Vietnamese workers in
the unstable locations of Benghazi and Tripoli cities will be
evacuated.
The PM also requested Vietnam’s representative
agencies, including embassies, in neighbouring countries that the
Vietnamese workers evacuate to, to promptly work with local governments
and companies to ensure safety and the provision of necessities for the
workers, as well as coordinate with countries and the International
Labour Organisation to join hands in bringing the labourers back to
Vietnam .
He also asked relevant ministries to try to bring the workers home by air.
PM
Dung assigned MoLISA to receive and provide initial support of 1
million VND for each returnee and continue assistance policies in line
with existing regulations.
The PM agreed with the establishment
of a steering committee on settlement of Vietnamese workers in the
Middle East and North Africa with an aim of safely bringing the
labourers back to the country./.