The measures spelt out by the FO to bring Pakistani expatriates back from Libya indicate the absence of a firm evacuation plan. There are reportedly 18,000 Pakistanis stranded in the country, many working in remote gas and oil fields. There is no word about how they are to be rescued. The violence in Libya has already led to numerous casualties among foreign workers. Anti-Gaddafi protests began in the middle of February. Two weeks should have been sufficient for the government to devise plans for the evacuation and put them into action. So far, only 354 Pakistanis have been brought back while the FO has announced a schedule to repatriate about six hundred more. It has no plans for thousands of others who have no means to reach Pakistan and according to those arriving from Libya are highly vulnerable.
The apathy displayed by the FO stands in stark contrast to what other countries have done to bring back their nationals. China has deployed a navy frigate and arranged ships, special flights and buses that have already evacuated 29,000 of its 30,000 plus workers. About 2,000 Thai workers have returned home on a ship chartered by their government. The Government of Philippines has organised bus convoys to take hundreds of workers to neighbouring Tunisia and has chartered a Greek ferry to take others to Malta. India has chartered a ship to get its nationals out with about 3,600 of the estimated 18,000 in the country already evacuated. Egypt which is currently in turmoil has also dispatched ships to rescue its workers. Pakistans economy depends a lot on remittances sent by its expatriate labour while the moves to evacuate them are callously inadequate.
Meanwhile, a US warship with hundreds of Marines on board is headed towards Libya. Any military intervention by the US or Britain would be counterproductive as it would make Gaddafi look like a victim of the Wests aggression aimed at seizing control of the Libyan oilfields. The Libyan people should be allowed to change the system the way they want, a task they can perform well without foreign intervention. Meanwhile, what the US and its allies need to do is to help avert the humanitarian crisis by joining the attempts to rescue the tens of thousands of expatriates stranded in Libya.
