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by Don Asoka Wijewardena

Emergency plans to evacuate around 1.6 million Sri Lankans working in the Middle East, have been finalised and the Lankan ambassadors in seven Middle-Eastern countries have been entrusted with the task of taking them to safety and bring them home via sea, land or air, if a full scale war breaks out in the Gulf.

Minister of Employment and Labour, Mahinda Samarasinghe, will meet Minister of Foreign Affairs, Tyronne Fernando, ambassadors and consul generals of Kuwait, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Oman, Jordan and Qatar and representatives of the International Committee for Red Cross (ICRC), United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) and the United Nations to discuss practical emergency measures tomorrow.

Necessary funds have been released for the evacuation process and ambassadors and consul generals in the vulnerable countries have been instructed to co-ordinate with the ICRC and take every possible measure to safeguard the workers. "Safe Houses" (schools and government buildings) to accommodate migrant workers and necessary protecting gears including gas masks and anti-chemical cloths have been provided to the workers with instructions to protect themselves against possible nuclear or biological attacks, Minister Samarasinghe told the "Sunday Observer".

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