Safety of 1,400 expatriates assured:

Lankan workers in Libya to be evacuated

by Ananda KANNANGARA

The Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) which has assured the safety and security of over 1,400 Sri Lankan expatriate workers in Libya said that the evacuation process of workers will begin in Tripoli from tomorrow.

The workers will be either airlifted by charter planes or shipped to Sri Lanka following a request by the Government.

Foreign Employment Minister Dilan Perera told the Sunday Observer that not a single Sri Lankan worker in Libya has been affected due to the unrest that erupted in that country on February 15. From the day the Libyan crisis broke out, the SLBFE closely monitored the situation in Libya along with the External Affairs Ministry and also had close contact with several Sri Lankan expatriates employed in many parts of Libya.

He said the Sri Lankan Embassy in Tripoli is open round the clock for the benefit of Sri Lankan workers and anybody could contact the officials at any time to verify any information.

The Consular Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that over 1,000 Sri Lankans who had not registered with the SLBFE are also employed in Libya.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry said that 36 expatriate workers from Libya were due to arrive in Sri Lanka from Tripoli yesterday evening.

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said that a large number of migrants from countries such as Tunisia, West Africa, Syria and Germany had crossed the Libyan border into Tunisia after the crisis broke out.

According to some reports nearly 400 Sri Lankans had gathered outside the Sri Lankan Embassy in Tripoli and 37 of them had travelled to Greece on Friday.