Bangladeshis Trapped in Libya
Safe exit not only worry
Thousands without food, water; Egypt denies entry to 400
Thousands of desperate Bangladeshis are crying for food, water and a safe exit from violence-riven Libya, witnesses said yesterday amid unfolding scenes of deepening chaos in the sprawling desert country.
Brega, or Marsa Al Brega, about a 1,000km east of Tripoli, is just one area where at least 600 Bangladeshis are struggling to survive hungry days in a so-called camp.
They had worked for Al Nahar Company, which was set up by the Libyan government in 2006 for irrigation and water supply across the country. They are now without any job as the company has suspended its operations. It means there is no income for them.
“We are living off little food and with no electricity and water,” said Imam Hossain, who came to the oil-rich North African country from Senbagh in Comilla in 2009.
Hossain said he was saddened by Bangladesh government’s remarks that all Bangladeshi workers are safe in Libya.
“Are we not citizens of Bangladesh? Workers from other countries have already left this place. Only Bangladeshis are all by themselves,” he said.
Hossain was referring to the government’s inaction about evacuation of Bangladeshis from the chaos.
The workers are panicked by rampant lootings and drive-by shootings on the road through the desert.
Imam said armed goons robbed some of his co-workers of whatever they had — from money and mobile phones to cigarettes to clothes.
Imam’s co-worker Md Sajib Sarkar has sobbed while sharing with The Daily Star how he is surviving on small pieces of bread.
“I can’t sleep at night. I’m scared. The attackers may come in anytime and beat us,” said Sajib, who was born in Narayanganj. Sajib left Bangladesh in July 2009 in search of a better life but ended up with only 180 Libyan dinars a month (Tk 10,332).
The workers have teamed up to guard the camp, owned by Al Nahar Company, against the attackers.
Out on the street, many are armed and on the prowl to rob people, said Sajib.
Among the victims was Md Tajuddin, 21, from Uttara in Dhaka, who said he lost his money and mobile phone to the attackers.
Unconfirmed reports emerged that a batch of more than 400 Bangladeshis were barred from entering Egypt by immigration officials yesterday.
Lokman Hossain of Gazipur said his brother Humayun Kabir and 4,000 other Bangladeshi workers fled their camps in Tripoli three days back following looting of the sites by the Libyans.
“The Libyans even looted their clothes and money. They have some money, but cannot go to urban areas to buy food,” Lokman said, adding that his brother was crying over the phone saying that in last three days he could not even have 250 grams of rice.
They do not go to public places for fear of army actions.
Lokman said his brother and the others are now staying in a place far off downtown Tripoli. Some Korean citizens who were working for Korean Sinhan Company are also with them.
“I am seriously worried about my brother. My parents are crying. Please help us bring him back to us,” he said.
Around 50 Bangladeshis in Altabia area of Tripoli are facing similar problems. Their original camp was burnt by the protesters four days back forcing them to move to another site.
Meanwhile, 22 Bangladeshi workers remain trapped in Tripoli, as the flight they booked to fly back home has been cancelled. Their company could not buy any tickets as of yesterday.
“Contacting the travel agency is not possible as phone or fax shops don’t work,” Md Alauddin told The Daily Star from a warehouse, around 10 km off Tripoli airport, where they were transferred from their original labour camp after it was looted on January 13.
The worker, who came from Dohar in Nawabganj, said the company has not paid them for two months, saying they would be paid before flying to Bangladesh.
“We are eating twice a day as the company cannot supply bread in the morning,” he said adding that they do not have money to buy food on their own.
All the three projects of the Libyan construction company that recruited around 2000 Bangladeshis in Tripoli are now closed, he said.
The situation suggests the unrest is not going to end anytime soon, and unless Bangladesh government takes immediate measures to evacuate them, they would be in even graver trouble, he noted.
“We are like orphans here. The company people are helpless. And we cannot contact our embassy either,” Alauddin said.
Shafiqur Rahman of Chandpur said he talked briefly with his son Saiful in Libya yesterday. “He said he has no job and is living somewhere in the desert. The line cut off before I could ask if he had enough food.”
Samrat, a worker from Benghazi, told Anisur Rahman of IMA Research Foundation that 45 Bangladeshis are stranded there. In the last three days, they could not contact anyone for the collapse of network and power cut.
Muktar, one of them, was beaten up by the army when he went to buy food.
“We are surviving on one meal a day,” Samrat said.
Rosy Begum from Chandpur told The Daily Star that her younger brother Kabir was at a camp in the Libyan desert.
He called on Tuesday night and told her, “If I’m fortunate, you will get to see me; otherwise, don’t expect that.”
FM AT JS
Bangladesh has moved to evacuate its nationals living in Libya to safe places and if necessary bring them back, Foreign Minister Dipu Moni told parliament last night, adds our staff correspondent.
“The foreign ministry and the expatriate welfare ministry are working on different alternatives to ensure safety of the Bangladeshi nationals in Libya. We are taking measures to shift our citizens to temporary camps in Egypt and Tunisia,” Moni said in a statement.
Besides, the government has requested Chinese, South Korean and Malaysian companies to ensure safety of the Bangladesh nationals working for them in Libya, she added.
On news reports that 37 Bangladeshi citizens have died in the strife-torn African country, the minister said neither her ministry nor Bangladesh mission in Libya have any such information.
Courtesy of The Daily Star
