The government on Tuesday decided to rescue all stranded Nepali workers in Libya, while bearing all their expenses including food and accommodation, at the earliest.
A meeting of council of ministers on Tuesday decided to initiate the process of rescuing the 1,961 Nepalis currently stranded in different parts of Libya following the mass protests against the government. Rescuing them would cost about Rs 70 million.
According to government spokesperson Gangalal Tuladhar 1,961 Nepalis are still in Libya. More than 600 Nepalis have already returned home, however. Some 726 Nepalis will be repatriated to Kathmandu from Libya by Sino Hydro, a Chinese company, within this week. Around 562 Nepalis, who have been ferried to Egypt, are expected to land in the capital on Tuesday. The government has also issued an alert to Libya-based humanitarian organisations to report to Nepali officials if they come across Nepalis in Libya.
The Nepali Embassy in Cairo, Egypt is actively working to rescue Nepali citizens from Libya, and additional human resources have been mobilised from the Embassy in Abu Dhabi.