The Vietnamese guest workers in the Tunisian area of Res Jedire, where they fled to safety, may never forget the image of the five-pointed golden star red flag flying in the wind there as it kept them strong and united after fleeing political chaos-hit Libya.
The five-pointed golden star red flag, Vietnam’s national flag, caught the interest of reporters from the Vietnam News Agency (VNA), on reaching Res Jedire to meet with Vietnamese guest workers escaping from Libya after travelling more than 120 km from Djerba city.
It was so noisy there as discussions were exchanged in various languages by thousands of workers of different nationalities who are currently living in temporary huts waiting to go home.
Hoang Van Tien, from the central province of Nghe An, told VNA about the life-threatening moments he and his fellow workers had encountered during their journey from Libya ’s capital city of Tripoli to Res Jedire.
“On reaching there, I see a chance of returning home so I told my fellow workers to work together in overcoming difficulties and challenges that may arise while waiting for flights to return home,” Tien said.
With a smile on his face and in his central Vietnam accent, Tien noted that the Vietnamese workers in Res Jedire agreed that they must keep their spirits high, holding on to their tradition of undauntedness that the Vietnamese people have held on to for centuries.
Tien and more than 1,000 other workers in Re Jedire have also received assistance offered by the Tunisian government and international organisations, including the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), for their passage back to Vietnam .
Late on March 6, 663 Vietnamese workers in the camp were transported to Zarzis airport to fly home and about 830 others will be airborne over the next two days.
Amongst those leaving, Nguyen Van Son, from the northern province of Bac Kan, said “having been very nervous over the past few days, we will soon be home. We would like to send our thanks to the Party and Government for what they have done for us.”
After a riot broke out, the Vietnamese Government and other related ministries and agencies took prompt moves to collect the Vietnamese guest workers to bring them home.
Five inter-agency working teams have been dispatched to work with Vietnamese representative agencies abroad and international organisations to ensure the necessary procedures and the orderly repatriation of workers.
All the Vietnamese workers in Libya , which number 10,334, had left the riot-stricken country by March 6, and more than 7,000 of them had already arrived home.
To get the remaining guest workers home, the country’s national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines will send another flight to Djerba , Tunisia , on March 8, bringing to ten the number of flights on the “air bridge” mission to help Vietnamese workers in Libya return home.
Though there are workers who are still waiting for flights home, the flying five-pointed golden star red flag keeps them believing that they will be reunited with their families soon./.
