More than 126 Nepali migrant workers have been stranded in the war-torn Libya after their company closed down two weeks ago. One of the victims, Gopal Dhamala, told the Post over the phone that he and 125 Nepali workers have been left in a helpless situation after their company, Doosan Heavy Industries and Construction Company, at Sirte was closed down because of the ongoing violence.  

According to Dhamala, 75 of the 126 Nepalis working for the company have gone out of contact, while the others are staying in their quarters in Sirte, 600 kilometres away from Libya’s capital city Tripoli. “We have requested the Indian embassy in Tripoli to help rescue them. However, the Nepal government is yet to request Indian embassy to initiate the rescue,” Dhamala said, adding that they were scared for their lives. He added that the remaining 51 Nepali workers at Sirte were preparing to go to Tunisia on Wednesday, to escape the war in Libya.

Meanwhile, another Nepali worker Chiranjivi Sharma, who is based in another part of Libya, said that he and his eight of his Nepali friends were trapped in the middle of the war. He said that they are living in their quarter in a Libyan city, which is 35 kilometers away from Tripoli, and their passports were seized by the rebels. “We want to return home as the security situation here is deteriorating,” Sharma said.

He said that although the Nepali Embassy in Egypt, which looks after affairs of Libya, has assured them to provide travel documents, they do not have the money for the air fare. Similarly, another Nepali worker, who had reached Tripoli after fleeing from his company at Benghazi, said that more than 50 Nepali workers in there also want to return home in the face of the ongoing war.

Despite the Nepal government’s ban on Nepalis to go to the Northern African country for employment, these Nepali workers had gone toLibya through Delhi route by paying up to Rs 500,000 each one year ago.

Published on: 14 August 2014 | The Kathmandu Post