Libyans robbing fleeing Indians

Gujaratis who have managed to escape from Libya are arriving with tales of horror, even as the oil-rich country plunges into chaos and civil war. Fifty-year-old Bhimajibhai Siyani, a native of Porbandar, had been working as an operator in Tripoli for the last 30 years.

"Indians are not being attacked in Tripoli [capital of Libya]," he said. "In Benghazi, however, there have been some attacks but I was told that all Indians had been safely evacuated from there. I fled leaving behind nearly Rs3 lakh worth of my earnings." Siyani said the Indian government was doing everything it could to evacuate all Indians to safety.

"Once I reached New Delhi, officials at Gujarat Bhavan were also very helpful," he said. "They picked us up from the airport and took us to Gujarat Bhavan where they provided us with food, and a room to rest. They also arranged for a flight to Ahmedabad." Siyani boarded a Porbandar-bounded bus at Gita Mandir bus stand in Ahmedabad on Saturday morning.

Dahyabhai Aadiya is another Gujarati who fled from Libya leaving behind a house and many valuables. He returned home to Jambusar (in Bharuch district) on Saturday morning after spending three harrowing days trying to board a flight out of Tripoli.

"I had little to eat or drink for three days as I was trying to get a boarding pass for an outbound flight at the Indian embassy in Tripoli," Aadiya said. "My priority was to somehow reach Jambusar. Now that I am home and with my family, I feel I am finally safe. Libya is falling apart."    

He said he had fled the strife-torn country with whatever he could collect in 20-30 minutes from his home in Tripoli.

Aadiya said that before the recent troubles, there were around 1,000 Gujaratis working in different cities of Libya. He said he was himself there since 1997 and was working as a carpenter with a big private company.

"I have a house in Tripoli," he said. "I have two TVs there, two refrigerators and an air-conditioner. I had to leave them all as soon as we were told that we had to evacuate. The situation there is very tense. I don't remember the date but I had to wait in a queue at the Indian Embassy for almost one whole day. Nearly 18,000 other Indians were also evacuated."

He further said that after registering at the embassy, they were asked to go to the airport and wait for their boarding passes. "I waited for two days at Tripoli airport for my boarding pass without any certainty about food or water," Aadia said.

"Some voluntary agencies threw some food packets and bottled water at us from vehicles. Our embassy people are working day and night to get all Indians out of Libya."

Aadia said that riotous mobs were out on the roads but they were not physically hurting Indians. "They just took away the electronic goods such as mobile phones, laptop computers, and cameras that we were carrying," he said.

"I have arrived with nothing but some clothes in my bag. I could not collect two months' salary that was due to me and had to leave behind some other money as well. In all, I lost around Rs1.5 lakh."
Ganpat Machhi, also a resident of Jambusar, is very sad that he had to leave his job in Libya after working there for 15 years.

"I had to flee to save my life," he said. "The company I worked for is yet to pay me two months' salary. But my bosses and other officials of the company have also fled. I don't know what I will do now."