Asia plans mass rescue of citizens from Libya

Asian nations on Wednesday prepared evacuation plans for more than 100,000 migrant workers trapped in Libya, many of them low-paid labourers toiling on construction sites. Arrangements to use passenger ships, planes and land routes to Egypt were being considered by governments as they try to secure their citizens' safety despite poor communication links and growing violence. The majority of expatriates caught up in the unrest are contract workers, with 60,000 Bangladeshis, 30,000 Filipinos, 23,000 Thais and 18,000 Indians among those living under the tottering regime of Moamer Kadhafi. China is readying plans to rescue about 30,000 citizens, many of them engineers involved in investment projects in the oil, rail and telecoms sectors, while Hanoi is monitoring conditions for 10,000 Vietnamese. "This is going to be quite a mammoth operation," India's foreign secretary Nirupama Rao told reporters in New Delhi. "We will have to not only put in place arrangements for aircraft or ships, but also obtain permission from Libyan authorities for our aircraft to land there." Of the 18,000 Indians in Libya, about 3,000 are reported to be in the violence-hit city of Benghazi working in automobile companies and in hospitals. Rao said an Indian passenger ship that could carry 1,000 people was in the Red Sea and directions had been given for it to stay in the area. China will send a plane, ships and fishing vessels to Libya to help evacuate its nationals, the government and state media said Wednesday. An Air China jet was to leave Beijing for Athens, as the Chinese government awaits permission to land in the north African country, where hundreds have been killed in an uprising against Kadhafi. The State Council, or cabinet, "decided to immediately deploy chartered civil aircraft, COSCO cargo ships in nearby waters, and Chinese fishing vessels carrying needed living and medical supplies", the foreign ministry said. China will also look to hire "large-scale passenger cruise ships and buses" to help in the evacuation effort, it added. The official Xinhua news agency reported that 83 Chinese had crossed the border into Egypt late Tuesday. Bangladesh, an impoverished country that relies on income sent home from workers employed abroad, said it was looking at evacuation options. "Our primary concern is the safety and security of the up to 60,000 Bangladeshi workers who are in Libya," foreign secretary Mijarul Quayes told reporters in Dhaka. "Evacuation is an option. The Bangladesh government has put this option on the table. We will do everything we can, whatever it takes, to ensure the safety and security of our workers, but the situation is very, very volatile." "If possible, we will repatriate all of our workers to Bangladesh." There are more than 23,000 Thai contract workers, mostly construction labourers, in locations including Tripoli, Benghazi, Sirte and Brak, officials said. The Thai embassy in Tripoli has contacted employers and advised Thais to be ready for evacuation, possibly using other countries' ships to ferry them to Malta, the labour ministry in Bangkok said. "We plan to use ships to evacuate Thai workers from Libya, but as of now nothing could be done as the situation is extremely dangerous," said ministry spokesman Sutham Nateetong. Sri Lanka said it had contacted the International Organisation on Migration (IOM) to seek help for at least 1,200 citizens. "We don't have aircraft to bring them back, so we asked the IOM," Sri Lanka's deputy external affairs minister Neomal Perera said. "We are also talking with ambassadors from friendly countries to get their assistance." Nepalese officials in Kathmandu said they were looking at overland escape plans for about 3,000 citizens. "We have requested the Egyptian authorities to allow entry of Nepalese. Our embassy in Cairo is working on it," said foreign ministry spokesman Harish Chandra Ghimire. Scores of Libyans have stormed four South Korean-run construction sites, officials said Wednesday, the latest in a series of such attacks as civil unrest spreads in the North African nation. Looters stole heavy machinery and vehicles or damaged property but no one was hurt, officials from the land and foreign ministries said. South Korea has urged all citizens without urgent business to leave the country. "We are considering arranging emergency flights or ships to evacuate people," one official in charge of the issue told AFP.