Anti-govt protesters in Libya loot Thai workers' camps

[Admin]

Anti-govt protesters in Libya loot Thai workers' camps
By The Nation
2011-02-24

Amid political chaos and violent suppression of anti-government protesters in Libya, rioters have looted Thai workers' camps, relatives of the victims in Thailand say.

Udon Thani native Buariwan Meechart said her husband Pranit was among a group of Thai workers stranded at a location where there was only one meal of rice soup served each day, after he and fellow workers fled their camp.

Another Udon Thani native, Pan Khanthaphaet, the mother of an unnamed Thai worker, said her son called her after Libyans robbed him of his belongings while he was driving.

"My son pleaded for his life and he was lucky that the robbers did not find his phone hidden in a trouser pocket, so he could call me," she said.

Kanthalas Prakobmitr, a Nakhon Ratchasima native, said a camp where her husband worked had been overrun by rioters. He had not called her since Tuesday, due to the lack of mobile-phone signal.

At another work camp that housed 156 Thai workers, more than 1,000 rioters looted belongings and food. The Thais contacted relatives in Thailand asking to be evacuated and immediately issued with replacement travel documents after they were destroyed in fires started by the rioters.

Unruen Bunsanong, the wife of a worker at the camp, said the Korean employer promised to transport all workers by truck to an Egyptian border town at around noon yesterday. She was unable to confirm if the group had made it to Egypt.

There are 23,600 Thais working in Libya. They will have to be evacuated over land and sea, since Libyan airspace has been closed by the government.

The largest contingent of Thai workers in Libya - more than 2,000 people - are from Nakhon Ratchasima, while Udon Thani natives make up the second largest portion, with 1,703.

The Labour Ministry, working with 30 employers, has chartered four ships, each carrying a minimum of 1,400 people, to evacuate all Thai workers to Malta. The ships are now docked at Tripoli and Benghazi, where 9,000 Thais are staying after fleeing from their camps.

The journey from Benghazi to Malta takes 14 hours, while from Tripoli it takes 12 hours, said Suphoj Bunjaroen, director-general of the Department of Employment. "The decision on when the evacuation begins rests with the Foreign Ministry," he said.

Deputy Foreign Ministry spokesman Jessada Katawethin said the ministry was almost ready to order the evacuation, which had been prolonged because it was verifying employment contracts with Thai and foreign employers to prevent possibly breaches of contract.

The Foreign Ministry is also working with authorities in Greece and Italy to secure permission to use a number of Libyan seaports owned by companies based in both countries in the sea evacuation. The workers will be transferred from Malta to the two countries, from where they will be flown back to Thailand, with possible visa leniency during the evacuation.

A number of Thai Airways planes and two Royal Thai Air Force C-130 cargo planes are ready to carry out aerial evacuations, but the military aircraft has a seven-hour fuel limit. A trip to Libya takes at least 18 hours.

"Each C-130 can carry around 90 to 110 passengers. The aerial evacuation will soon be decided and finalised by the government," Jessada said.

More than 3,000 Thais went to work in Libya last year alone. There are 33,000 Thais working in the Middle East, sending home remittances of more than Bt55 billion each year, according to a Labour Ministry report.

The Labour Ministry has set up a call-centre service, available on 085-481-0243-5 around the clock, in addition to its regular service on 1694. As of yesterday, 300 calls had been made. The situation in Libya is being constantly updated on TGN5, a 24-hour satellite channel operated by Army-run Channel 5.
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[Admin]

Over 2,000 Thais have left Libya 
Bangkok Post: 24 Feb 2011
10,000 Thais on way out of Libya

About 10,000 Thai labourers working in Libya will be evacuated to neighbouring countries by sea and land.

Foeign minister's secretary Chavanond Intarakomalyasut the the Thai Embassy in Rome has chartered a ship to evacuate 4,000 Thai labourers working in risky areas of Libya.

The first trip will carry 2,000 people from the Lybian port of Tripoli to Tunisia, which takes only two and a half hours. The second trip will take another 2,000 Thai labourers from Libya to Italy.

The government will later consider sending chartered flights to bring the Thai labourers back home from Tunisia, he said.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva earlier ordered the Foreign and Labour Ministries to work together to help all 23,600 Thai labourers working in Libya, following a meeting yesterday morning at the Foreign Ministry.

Mr Chavanond said a job placement company, Silver and Gold Development Placement Company, will evacuate another 6,000 Thai labourers by buses to the eastern and western parts of Libya, which are under the control of the anti-Gadhafi forces. This evacuation will start on Saturday.

This company had already evacuated 600 Thai labourers out of the risk areas a few days ago.

“The rest will be relocated to the southern part of the country which is the safest area and where there is no shortage of food. The Foreign and Labour ministries will set up a temporary coordinating centre for those Thai labourers who do not want to leave Libya, or need other help,’’ said Mr Chavanond.

The medical teams from the Defence Ministry will go to the border of Egypt and Tunisia, and man the coordinating centre in the southern part of the country, to take care of the evacuees, he said.

Both ministries will also set up a coordinating centre at the Foreign Ministry to provide updated information.

Adviser to the Labour Minister Sutham Natheethong together with Chackrit Suwannasarn, a representative of Silver and Gold Development Placement Company, and staff from the Consular Department flew to Tunisia last night to prepare to receive the evacuated labourers from Libya.

"Our aim is to make sure all the Thai s there are safe, not to get all of them out of the country," Mr Sutham said.

“We will evacuate people only from the the danger areas, but not from the safe areas,’’ he said.

Mr Chackrit said at least 1,500 Thai labourers had already been evacuated from Libya by his company. Another 1,700 were being brought out.

About 700 people were going to Tunisia, 513 to Egypt and 530 who were on a ship would go to Istanbul in Turkey, said Mr Chackrit.

The first group of returning Thai labourers employed through his company were due back in Bangkok on Saturday, he said.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/breakingnews/223319/10000-thais-in-libya-to-be-rescued
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Over 2,000 Thais have left Libya

More than 2,000 Thai workers have fled strife-torn Libya by sea, Labour Ministry spokesman Sutham Natheethong said on Thursday morning.

Mr Sutham said the rescue was arranged by companies that recruited them to work in the North African country.

About 1,200 Thais had gone to neighbouring Tunisia, 500 to Egypt and another 500 to Istanbul, Turkey. They all travelled by sea.

The spokesman said he and officials from the Employment Department will fly to Greece and travel to the island of Malta by sea tomorrow to closely monitor the unrest in Libya and help the other stranded Thais.

The workers who have already left Libya will not be returning to Thailand at this stage, but they would return home if the unrest is prolonged, he said.

The Labour and Foreign ministries this afternoon will meet representative of the job companies that sent Thai workers to Libya, he said.

Relatives can call for assistance at the Labour Ministry's 1694 hotline, he added.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/breakingnews/223292/over-2000-thais-left-libya
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[Admin]

Rescue operations for Thai workers in Libya now rely on cars
NNT 2011-02-27

BANGKOK, 27 February 2011 (NNT)-According to the Ministry of Labor, a rescue operation for Thai laborers in Libya has been changed from picking them up by airplanes to cars.

The Labor Ministry’spokesperson Mr. Sutham Natheethong said it was impossible to send chartered flights to pick up the remaining 223 Thai labors in Libya as street protests in Tripoli had become aggressive. Under the plan, all remaining Thai workers will be transported by car to the border of Tunisia on a 6 hour trip.

They are expected to join 2,000 other Thai workers already waiting for help at the border. Meanwhile, 800 more Thais are now crossing the border to Egypt where 1,300 Thais are currently seeking a temporary shelter. Following the report, 600 other workers at Benghazi are having problems getting across the sea to Turkey while the Thai embassy is trying to solve the issue as quickly as possible.

On Monday, a ship will be waiting in Tripoli as the rest of the Thais in Libya are urged to be at the pier at the designated time. United Nations officials have also been dispatched to the Libyan-Tunisian border to rescue foreigners trying to leave the violence-stricken country.

[Admin]

1,000 Thais missing in Libya
By The Nation
2011-03-05

The Labour Ministry has deployed related agencies to search for more than 1,000 Thai workers in Libya who are still missing.

"We have received reports that more than 1,000 Thai workers are still missing in Libya," said Employment Department directorgeneral Jirasak Sukonthachart.

By 7pm on March 3, 2,942 workers had already arrived in Thailand while 1,977 workers were travelling by boat. Meanwhile, 8,386 workers are waiting in safe locations.

The ministry expects to have evacuated all Thai workers in Libya back to Thailand within 10 days.

"We hope the situation in Libya does not get worse and worse as it will affect the plan to evacuate Thai workers back home," he said.

However, the ministry has sent its staff to work with the International Organisation for Migration, which has set up temporary camps for workers in Benghazi and at Libya's borders with Tunisia, Egypt and Niger.

[boloa]

1,000 Thais missing in Libya

I wonder how many of these are women ...Women that are offered jobs and end-up in-slaved in some bordello 

[Pee Nuu]

1,000 Thais missing in Libya

I wonder how many of these are women ...Women that are offered jobs and end-up in-slaved in some bordello 

That would be Filipinas.

[boloa]

1,000 Thais missing in Libya

I wonder how many of these are women ...Women that are offered jobs and end-up in-slaved in some bordello 

That would be Filipinas.

Or Romanian's according to the film Freight 

[Dave the Dude]

They are all scum, those people who deal in Human Trafficing. I seen that film too!