South Asia Libya rescue under way

There are some 18,000 Indians in Libya

The Indian government has begun evacuating its nationals stranded in Libya with two special flight bringing back over 500 people.

A passenger ferry has also arrived in the Libyan city of Benghazi and will take evacuees to Alexandria in Egypt, from where they will be flown home.

Of some 18,000 Indians in Libya, about 3,000 are in Benghazi working for car companies and hospitals.

India has also sent three warships to help with the evacuation.

Two flights operated by the state-owned airline Air India have brought back 530 passengers since late Saturday.

Their relief at returning home was mixed with concern at those they left behind – some of whom they said were in remote industrial plants, where food and water was running out, says the BBC’s Mark Dummett.

Mohammed Sali, the first Indian to make it back home, told the BBC that he was looted of all his possessions at knife point as he reached Tripoli airport

Another passenger, Gigi John, said it was a “miracle” that the evacuees managed to “get out of Libya, safe and sound”.

“Many of us were forced to go without adequate food and drinking water for several days, and have been hearing harrowing tales of cruelty by the Col Muammar Gaddafi’s government,” she told The Hindu newspaper.

One evacuee said that even as the passengers lined up to collect their tickets at Tripoli airport, they were robbed of their mobile phones.

Many of the Indians in Libya come from the south of the country.

States like Kerala rely on the remittances sent back by millions of migrants working in Arab countries, and this is now an extremely anxious times for all their families.

About 100,000 people have fled anti-government unrest in Libya over the past week, the UN estimates.

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