South Korean company Daewoo Engineering and Construction Co Ltd has decided to evacuate 169 Bangladeshi migrant workers in its employment from Libya.
“Due to the deteriorating situation in Libya, Korean companies have been evacuating their nationals, and they will evacuate 169 Bangladeshis in phases,” said Md Ahsan Kibria, first secretary of Bangladesh Mission in Libya, while taking to the Dhaka Tribune over the phone yesterday.
He said the company would provide everything, including air tickets, for the evacuation.
The first secretary also said the situation in Tripoli, the Libyan capital, was not good and around 3,500 Bangladeshis in the city had moved to safer places.
“We have instructed our workers not to go to conflict-prone zones,” Ahsan said, adding that a number of Bangladeshi migrants went to Tripoli to work because they thought the situation had improved.
Around 60,000 Bangladeshis are currently living in the war-torn country, according to the first secretary.
He said five Bangladeshi migrants were killed as they were caught up in clashes between Libyan government forces and rebels in Tripoli in the past few days.
“We are trying to send the dead bodies back home, but we are unable to do so as the international flights from Tripoli and Benghazi have been suspended,” he said.
Talking to reporters at his office yesterday, Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Khandker Mosharraf Hossain reiterated Ahsan’s statement, adding that Bangladeshis in Benghazi had moved to safer places.
According to the ministry, the workers that were killed on Wednesday are Moshiur Rahman, son of Rafiqul Islam, from Gopalganj, Sheikh Mohammad Milon, son of Mohammad Ali Sheikh, from Madaripur, and Murad, son of Sarwar Mollah, from Madaripur.
Monir Miah, son of Phul Miah, from Narsingdi, and Milon Hossain, son of Sadar Ali, from Jhenaidah, were killed on Tuesday, according to a letter issued by the mission.
According to an August 7 report by South Korea-based Yonhap News Agency, South Korean builders started evacuating workers from Libya several weeks after extensive fighting broke out in the oil-rich North African country.
Daewoo, which has some 652 workers in the country, including 87 Korean nationals, said 55 employees, who were assigned to the Misrata power plant, reached Dubai on Wednesday. These include 15 Korean workers.
The remaining 72 Korean and other migrant workers at the Zwitina power station will be pulled out in due course.
“The evacuation plan will be implemented to ensure maximum safety for the workers and to reflect local conditions,” the company said.