22 stay back for economic reasons:

Ninety Lankans return from violence-hit Libya

by Manjula Fernando

The Government had brought down 90 Sri Lankan migrant workers from violence-hit Libya upto last week, but 22 more are still staying there, a spokesman for the Embassy in Cairo had informed the External Affairs Ministry, official sources said.

Since the Security and political stability continued to deteriorate posing a grave threat to the civilians there, the Sri Lankan Mission in Cairo took prompt action to bring down the Lankans with the help of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), Tunis, the official said.

These Lankans, who had been virtually stranded, were transported to the Tunisian border with the help of two former locally recruited staff members of the Sri Lankan Embassy which has been closed in Tripoli. The IOM, Tunis has borne all local costs including visa fees, transport and accommodation, for Sri Lankans while they were in Tunisia.

The IOM office in Tripoli was closed due to intense fighting.

Another five Lankans have been evacuated across the highly guarded Libyan- Egyptian border.

Sri Lanka was the first to receive IOM assistance to evacuate its employees from Libya, he said “The majority of those returned were from areas where intense fighting is on with indiscriminate mortar and artillery fire.

”The Embassy in Cairo had taken swift action to approach IOM for assistance to get the Sri Lankans out.

They were brought down to Colombo in batches from July 18 - August 10. The Foreign Employment Bureau funded the flight from Tunisia to Colombo.

The 22 Lankans who opted to remain in Libya have cited economic reasons for their decision to stay back. The Tripoli international airport has been destroyed by militia groups.

Hence the only link between the Libyan capital and the rest of the world is a road link with the Tunisian border town, Rasdeer.