India helps in evacuation of 126 Nepalese nationals from Libya

New Delhi, Aug 16: India has facilitated evacuation of 126 Nepalese nationals from Sirte area of strife-torn

. The assistance by India came after Nepalese embassy in Cairo sent a note verbale to its mission in

seeking assistance for evacuation of the Nepalese nationals, officials in the Ministry of External Affairs said.

The Nepalese nationals were working with M/s Doosan Heavy Industry and Construction in Sirte. The assistance by India came nearly two weeks after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "historic" visit to Nepal. The Nepalese workers were understood to have been staying without visa and working with the company illegally as they were not originally recruited by them.

Therefore, they were abandoned by the company. The illegal status of these workers made things more complicated, sources said. The Indian Ambassador in Tripoli personally coordinated the efforts to facilitate evacuation of the Nepalese citizens. The Embassy contacted the Libyan Labour Minister and explained to him the position with a request to issue a letter to Libyan Immigration authorities to facilitate their departure through Libya.

Separately, the Embassy deputed its representatives with the letter to the Tunisian border, which is 200 km from Tripoli, beforehand and got a 'No objection' endorsed from the Immigration in charge at the Libyan border.

PTI