VietNamNet Bridge – The Foreign Ministry says that government agencies and manpower export companies are ready to take all Vietnamese workers in Libya home if the situation in the North African country gets worse.

Smoke rises from a building in Tripoli after being shot by missiles of a militant group on August 3.

According to the Bureau of Consular Affairs, about 1,550 Vietnamese people are working in 15 localities in the territory of Libya, including the capital Tripoli. Most of them are living in the areas without fighting.

The Bureau of Consular Affairs, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Department for Management of Overseas Labor, the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, and manpower exporting companies are preparing to evacuate Vietnamese workers near the dangerous area.

The remaining people who are in the safe zone have been asked to keep in touch with the diplomatic missions of Vietnam in Libya.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs have instructed Vietnam representative offices in Libya and other countries in the region to closely monitor the situation and prepare plans to ensure safety for Vietnamese citizens in Libya.

The Vietnam representative offices in Turkey, Egypt and Algeria have asked the home countries to create favorable conditions for Vietnam to transit its workers on the way home.

By August 5, 209 Vietnamese people returned home safely and 182 people were evacuated from the two regions of conflict - Tripoli and Benghazi.

Vietnamese citizens in Libya or their relatives in Vietnam can contact the hotlines of the Bureau of Consular Affairs and Ministry of Foreign Affairs for help (+0084.948948458 +0084.918370497).

Libya fell into anarchy after armed groups fought one another to seize control of the capital Tripoli and the eastern city of Benghazi.

The current situation is said to be the most violent since the Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi was overthrown in 2011. According to Reuters, the fighting in Tripoli and Benghazi in the past two weeks killed more than 200 people, forcing many countries to withdraw their diplomats from Libya.

More Vietnamese workers flee Libya as fighting rages

Cairo airport welcomed the first of an additional 682 Vietnamese guest workers on August 7, fleeing from Libya amid the worsening violence.

The labourers had gone to Libya to work for the “Gubba Housing Project” project of South Korean Hyundai Engineering Company (HEC) in Gubba province.

HEC shut down the project and is evacuating all of its Vietnamese workers to Cairo. The workers are scheduled to return to Hanoi on three flights of Vietnam Airlines.

Hanoi-base HEC office Chief Representative Jung Byung Hun said his company is covering all travel costs to help the Vietnamese guest workers fly home safe and sound from August 9  to 11 with a frequency of one flight/day.

In the face of escalating violence in Libya, HEC is actively coordinating with Vietnamese relevant agencies to assist local workers in possible way to return home, he said.

Meanwhile, the Egyptian government has loosened travel restrictions allowing Vietnamese workers to transit at Cairo airport 72 hours to wait for their flights instead of 12 hours as before.

PV