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Back home from burning Beirut

By Anthony David and Chris Kamalendran

As bombs continue to rain on Lebanon, the first batch of the 80,000 Sri Lankans employed there arrived at the BIA yesterday, empty-handed and fearful of the fate of their colleagues stranded in a country that is on the verge of an all out war.

Our photographer Gemunu Wellage captured these emotional scenes as the first batch of Sri Lankans arrived at the BIA

Their hopes of working in Lebanon were shattered after Israel started air raids on targets in the southern part of the country prompting some to flee with their employers to neighbouring countries and others to seek refuge in the Sri Lanka embassy expecting to be brought back home.

As the intensity of the bombardment grew, about 5,000 Lankans had registered with the embassy hoping to be sent back to Colombo, while over 6,000 people had registered with the Foreign Employment Bureau here, seeking information about their kith and kin.

The first batch of 264 Sri Lankans arrived at the BIA, relieved but tired. Some of them had harrowing tales to relate about their escape while others were worried about their colleagues who were still stuck in a country that was fast turning into a hell hole.

They also said some of the housemaids were facing a desperate situation as their employers had left them behind as they sought refuge in safer areas.

“We are worried about the Sri Lankans who are getting little help to get to the embassy, although once they get there they will be well looked after,” Chamila Perera from Nainamadama said.

Those who have returned are pleading with the government to expedite the return of the others, but Labour Minister Athuada Seneviratne said there were no immediate plans for a mass evacuation.

“Only if the need arises and if there are requests from the people will we take steps to evacuate them,” Mr. Seneviratne told The Sunday Times.

Return to sender

Over 60,000 letters sent from people here to their loved ones in Lebanon will be sent back to the senders via the Central Mail Exchange, a spokesman for the International Postal Services division said.

This was in view of the cancellation of all flights to Lebanon, he said. He also said post offices and the agency post offices have been instructed not to accept any more letters until further notice. He said about 9,000 letters are posted to Lebanon on a daily basis.

But, it was evident that these housemaids who had experienced so much trauma the past week, were not in a position to assess the ground situation and needed guidance to decide whether the situation was safe for them or not.

One of the returnees, Jayalath Kumara, who had worked in Beirut for nine years said they had received reports that several Sri Lankans had died during the raids and that he had seen the collapsed building in which the victims were reportedly staying. However, on hearing Jayalath making these comments to journalists who were present, Minister Senviratne who was also at the BIA to receive the Sri Lankans, pulled him up for talking about incidents that had not been verified.

Meanwhile government sources say they are monitoring the situation in Lebanon along with the assistance of the International Organization of Migration (IOM) and would decide on further evacuation of Sri Lankans.

India has decided to evacuate its 10,000 workforce in the country and has dispatched ships while offering assistance to Sri Lanka as well. Government sources also said they had received an offer from Turkey to evacuate Sri Lankans and they were keeping their options open.

The first batch of Sri Lankans were flown to Colombo in a Sri Lankan flight from the Syrian capital Damascus after several consultations between the Foreign Ministry, Labour Ministry, Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment and the IOM.

Appeal for funds

The International Organisation of Migration (IOM) on Friday sent out an urgent international appeal for US dollars 12 million to assist evacuation operations.

IOM chief in Colombo Christopher Gascon said the money would be used to help evacuate Sir Lankans as well as other nationals who have appealed for assistance.

He said a Sri Lankan adult will receive Rs 5,000 and a child Rs. 2, 500 on arrival in Sri Lanka as travel expenses to get back to their homes. He said this money would be paid by the Australian Embassy in Colombo.

Mr. Gascon said sea transport too would be considered to evacuate Sri Lankans if the need arose.

He said Philippines, Ghana, Ethiopia, Bangladesh, Iraq, Moldova, Russia and Vietnam have also appealed for IOM assistance to evacuate their citizens from Lebanon.

Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLFEB) chairman Jagath Wellawatta told The Sunday Times that if the need arises the government would make arrangements to evacuate those who felt their lives were in danger.

The Sri Lanka embassy in Lebanon is being assisted by IOM and Caritas organizations to provide shelter and other facilities to those fleeing in terror. As a precautionary move the Lankans are being transported out of Lebanon to Damascus in buses plying the Sri Lankan flag and the IOM flag.

As many Sri Lankans began arriving at the Sri Lanka mission in Syria, by Thursday two Foreign Employment Bureau officials were flown in from Colombo via Jordan to strengthen the mission that only has a Consular General. Mr. Wellawatta and a Foreign ministry official would also fly out if the situation aggravated.

“We have received reports from Lebanon that some of the Sri Lankans have gone to Syria along with their employers and they are safe. Some of them had called their loved ones in Sri Lanka to say they were safe,” Mr. Wellawatte said.

The Bureau had initially estimated that there were over 90,000 Sri Lankans in Lebanon, with 95 per cent of them being housemaids, but subsequently the figure was revised to 80,000. The discrepancy was because some of them had overstayed their visas and there had been no proper account of their numbers.

Sri Lankans without passports are being allowed entry to Syria on a temporary travel document issued by the Lankan mission in Lebanon.

There were reports that some Sri Lankans had protested in front of the Lankan embassy in Beirut when they had been detained for overstaying their visas. About 80 of them who had been detained were released almost immediately but a group of about 60 had protested mainly in fear that they would not be allowed to leave the country.

Farooq’s mission impossible

Sri Lanka’s Ambassador in Lebanon, Amanul Farooq, who has played a key role in watching the interests of its nationals during previous crises is again the centre of attraction – this time co-ordinating the evacuation of Lankans who are fleeing the country – most of them housemaids.

Mr. Farooq played a key role in securing the release of truck driver Dinesh Rajaratnam who was held hostage in Iraq in 2004 by insurgents there.

Ambassador Farooq in a telephone interview with The Sunday Times from Lebanon said Sri Lankans working in southern Lebanon, which is the worst hit by the current Israeli bombardment, are stranded there because the main highways have been damaged and there is no transport to Beirut.

Mr. Farooq said some of the stranded Sri Lankans were in contact with the embassy and they were advised to somehow find their way to the embassy in Beirut from where they could be evacuated.

“It is not possible to send any vehicles to pick these people as most of the roads and bridges have been damaged and any moving object could be a target,” the ambassador said.

Southern Lebanon on the Israeli border is believed to be a Hezbollah stronghold and Israel has asked all civilians to leave the area as a prelude to a full-scale ground offensive.

The ambassador said the area around the Sri Lankan mission in Beirut appeared to be safe though there were occasional explosions and Sri Lankans who come there could be assured protection.

Sri Lanka has the highest number of migrant workers amounting to 80,000 in Lebanon as against Philippines which has about 30,000 followed by Ethiopia with about 20,000.

Mr. Farooq was speaking soon after he had finalized the departure of about 260 Sri Lankans to Colombo via Damascus, the Syrian capital on Friday. He said the Lankans were sent to Damascus on a circuitous route which took about six hours, compared to the direct route which would take just two and a half hours. He said that banks had already imposed restrictions on the issue of US dollars and the situation could worsen.

Mr. Farooq who was in Colombo last week had immediately rushed back to Lebanon following the Israeli attacks.

In Colombo yesterday the first batch of Sri Lankans evacuated were praising the ambassador and the staff at the Beirut office for taking care of them despite various hardships.

They said the ambassador was personally involved in looking into their welfare and safe passage to Colombo.
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