400 workers stuck up in Libya return today

Four hundred Bangladeshi workers, stranded in Libya, will return today (Wednesday) by two chartered plane flights and one by Gulf Air under the management of International Organization for Migration (IOM). The other Bangladeshis, who are currently staying at the borders of Tunisia and Egypt, would be brought back in the coming days, said Rabab Fatima, Regional Re­pre­sen­tative of IOM in Dhaka. "A group of 35 Bangladeshis, out of the first batch of 400 people, are arriving by Gulf Air at 4:50 in the morning (March 02) and the rest of them are arriving by two flights chartered by IOM at 10am on the same day," said the IOM Dhaka chief. She said IOM is providing documentation and humanitarian assistance over the past one week to about five to six thousand Bangladeshis who have crossed Libyan borders into Egypt, Tunisia and Niger. "IOM is making all-out efforts to support foreign nationals including Bangladeshis at the Libyan borders, who have been caught up in this humanitarian crisis," she added. She, however, mentioned that the organisation made a global appeal for funds to support the ongoing efforts, which include evacuation of 'third country nationals'. The representatives of IOM and the government will be present at the airport to receive the returnees, said a spokesman of IOM. Meanwhile, 101 Bangladeshis returned from Libya on Monday by their Turkish employer, Summal Libya JSC. An IOM press release added that the organisation has received formal requests from the government of Bangladesh to provide all-out support to Bangladeshis who have passed across the Libyan borders. It also received direct appeals for assistance from the families of Bangladeshis in Libya, migrant rights organisations and migrant workers associations. The Bangladeshis comprise the highest number of foreign nationals in Libya, apart from Egyptians. IOM has set up temporary office and reception centres at the Egyptian borders of Saloum and in the port town of Masra Matruh, Tunisian border point, Ras Jdir and also on the Niger border. The organisation is providing emergency medical treatment, blankets, food and water to the arriving Bangladeshi workers who are also registered by it. In view of the growing number of people arriving at the temporary border shelters, IOM has already begun negotiations and logistic preparations to evacuate Bangladeshis for their journey home -- either by air or sea, the press release mentioned.