Returning from the Libyan war zone

(Baonghean) - After transiting through many countries, Nghe An workers working in the war zone in Libya have returned home safely. They are facing difficulties in life and the desire to continue exporting labor to escape poverty.

Mr. Tran Van Hanh was happy on the day of his return.

For the past 2 days, the shabby house in Hamlet 8, Nghi Dien Commune (Nghi Loc) of Mr. Tran Van Hanh has always had people coming in and out to ask about his health and feelings after working days in the war zone in Libya. As the breadwinner of the family, with no extra work at home, Mr. Hanh has long sought ways to go abroad to work to support his wife and children.

Three years ago, while working in Libya with a salary of more than 10 million VND/month, war suddenly broke out, Libya fell into chaos. At that time, the Vietnamese government and labor export companies made efforts to bring Vietnamese workers back home. Like many other Vietnamese compatriots, Mr. Hanh had to struggle at airports in Libya, Türkiye, and Tunisia. At the end of 2011, Mr. Hanh returned home. Having no job at home, the family's income only depended on his wife's market work, so Mr. Hanh continued to apply to work abroad in Libya when the situation began to stabilize again.

In April 2013, after paying 38.4 million VND through Viet Thang Company in Hanoi, Mr. Thang went to Libya to work for Enka Technik Company in Awbari City, specializing in assembling construction formwork. The company's owner is Turkish. The company has hundreds of workers from countries such as the Philippines, Türkiye, China and 87 Vietnamese. The job is quite simple: building formwork with plywood panels to prepare for other groups of workers to pour concrete. The average salary they receive is 11-13 million VND, sent directly to their families through a brokerage company in Vietnam. The workers are given an advance of nearly 1 million VND to spend on things like phone calls, food, etc. Awbari City is isolated, like an oasis in the middle of the Sahara desert. In the early days, the Vietnamese workers were allowed to go out and go to the market a few times, but then the situation seemed to get worse, with frequent robberies, so the workers were not allowed to go out on their own. When moving to a construction site or changing accommodation, the company arranged a car to take them there. While they were working peacefully, in mid-2014, Libya erupted in war as armed groups fought for control of the capital Tripoli and the eastern city of Benghazi. The war continued to escalate, many civilians were shot, and robberies occurred frequently. In mid-July, countries with workers evacuated their citizens from Libya. Vietnamese workers were also allowed to leave the war-torn area. After leaving the Awbari region, Vietnamese workers transited to Türkiye, Kuwait, and Qatar before flying back to Vietnam via Tan Son Nhat airport. From Ho Chi Minh City. From Ho Chi Minh City, workers from the North and Central regions continued to fly to Hanoi. Here, the brokerage company gave each person 2 million VND in support money according to the regulations of the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs and the company, then everyone was taken to the bus station to go home.

Returning home, Mr. Hanh and his family were extremely excited: “This time we don’t have to live in fear like the last riot, work is going well, the company doesn’t owe us salaries, but we are also very worried because of the tense war situation. If unfortunately there is a stray bullet then…”, Mr. Hanh confided. During the days waiting to be brought back to the country, his wife and children called almost every day to urge him to come back. Ms. Nguyen Thi Loan, Mr. Hanh’s wife, said that the family has 3 children, her husband is the breadwinner of the family. Currently, the eldest son is working as a hired hand in Laos, the two younger ones have both dropped out of school and are helping their mother go to the market. “Hearing the news that there is war over there, my heart is burning. Now that I can come back, I am very happy,” Ms. Loan confided.

The leader of the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs said that among the 1,800 Vietnamese workers working in Libya, there are about 300 workers from Nghe An. The government and labor brokerage and supply companies are making efforts to bring all workers back home, ensuring absolute safety for Vietnamese citizens. Currently, the common wish of workers is to continue to work abroad in countries with political stability. Most of them had to borrow from 40 to 50 million VND when completing procedures to go to Libya. Many have not yet paid off their bank loans and most are facing difficulties because they do not know what to do in the near future.

Nguyen Khoa