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The government has decided to immediately begin evacuation operations for its citizens in Libya following a sharp and unprecedented deterioration in the situation there, even as a trickle of Indians reached neighbouring Tunisia.
The Navy readied plans to send its ships following a request made by the Ministry of External Affairs to the Defence Ministry. It was involved in a similar exercise when Israel attacked Lebanon five years ago. But at that time its ships were fuelled and in the vicinity and could quickly reach Lebanese ports. It has the option of diverting the ship on anti-piracy duty as South Korea has done but the carrying capacity of a warship is limited.
Till then evacuation through other means is being arranged by sea and air. The government has chartered a 1,200-seater passenger ferry which is readying to sail for Benghazi, the initial focus of the evacuation operations. The government personnel and a medical team will be on board to assist the evacuees. There are at least 18,000 Indians in Libya, including 3,000 in Benghazi, where the airport has been rendered unusable due to the fighting.
“Evacuation of some of our company workers and staff in Libya is taking place via Tunisia. This has been facilitated by our Embassy in Tunis,” informed Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao. “Primary evacuation focus will be on medical emergency cases, women and children,” she said through a tweet.
Preparations are also being made for the evacuation of nationals from cities in the interior, where air access is possible subject to Libyan clearance. The ferry is expected to reach Benghazi on Sunday and bring back some of the Indians to Egypt's Alexandria by March 1. They would then be flown home by special Air India flights.
On the other hand the evacuation from Tripoli will be by air. Aircraft are on stand by, Libyan landing clearance is awaited and should be received soon, said the Foreign Office.
“All Indians are safe and all those Indians who are willing to be evacuated will be evacuated safely and without any expenditure incurred by them,” said External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna.
However, compared to efforts being made by other countries, India is clearly lagging in getting its nationals out of harm's way. China, Turkey, Bulgaria, the Philippines, Russia, Ukraine, France, the Netherlands have already evacuated their nationals.
The evacuation is being handled by the MEA in coordination with Ministries of Defence, Overseas Indian Affairs and Shipping.
The public sector Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and the Oil India Corporation (IOC) were moving their three personnel out of Tripoli. The ONGC has one staffer and the OIL two and they would be brought back within a few days.
“Communication through telephone and Internet is very difficult. But we have been able to speak to them and have managed to send tickets across,” said OIL CMD N.M. Borah. We were in the process of winding up operations [when the unrest broke out in Libya],” added Mr. Borah. “Contact with the officer has been intermittent,” ONGC CMD A.K. Hazarika said. “We are working with MEA to bring him back.”
The Navy readied plans to send its ships following a request made by the Ministry of External Affairs to the Defence Ministry. It was involved in a similar exercise when Israel attacked Lebanon five years ago. But at that time its ships were fuelled and in the vicinity and could quickly reach Lebanese ports. It has the option of diverting the ship on anti-piracy duty as South Korea has done but the carrying capacity of a warship is limited.
Till then evacuation through other means is being arranged by sea and air. The government has chartered a 1,200-seater passenger ferry which is readying to sail for Benghazi, the initial focus of the evacuation operations. The government personnel and a medical team will be on board to assist the evacuees. There are at least 18,000 Indians in Libya, including 3,000 in Benghazi, where the airport has been rendered unusable due to the fighting.
“Evacuation of some of our company workers and staff in Libya is taking place via Tunisia. This has been facilitated by our Embassy in Tunis,” informed Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao. “Primary evacuation focus will be on medical emergency cases, women and children,” she said through a tweet.
Preparations are also being made for the evacuation of nationals from cities in the interior, where air access is possible subject to Libyan clearance. The ferry is expected to reach Benghazi on Sunday and bring back some of the Indians to Egypt's Alexandria by March 1. They would then be flown home by special Air India flights.
On the other hand the evacuation from Tripoli will be by air. Aircraft are on stand by, Libyan landing clearance is awaited and should be received soon, said the Foreign Office.
“All Indians are safe and all those Indians who are willing to be evacuated will be evacuated safely and without any expenditure incurred by them,” said External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna.
However, compared to efforts being made by other countries, India is clearly lagging in getting its nationals out of harm's way. China, Turkey, Bulgaria, the Philippines, Russia, Ukraine, France, the Netherlands have already evacuated their nationals.
The evacuation is being handled by the MEA in coordination with Ministries of Defence, Overseas Indian Affairs and Shipping.
The public sector Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and the Oil India Corporation (IOC) were moving their three personnel out of Tripoli. The ONGC has one staffer and the OIL two and they would be brought back within a few days.
“Communication through telephone and Internet is very difficult. But we have been able to speak to them and have managed to send tickets across,” said OIL CMD N.M. Borah. We were in the process of winding up operations [when the unrest broke out in Libya],” added Mr. Borah. “Contact with the officer has been intermittent,” ONGC CMD A.K. Hazarika said. “We are working with MEA to bring him back.”