NO CYPRIOTS have yet asked to be repatriated, said the foreign ministry yesterday, but the Greek Foreign Minister, Demetris Droutsas said Greece has two aircraft on stand-by to repatriate any Greeks or Cypriots.
Around 160 Cypriots currently reside in Libya.
“There is no problem with safety at the moment,” said Andreas Zinonos, director of crisis management at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “So far we are not going to begin repatriating people but if someone wants to leave they can,” added Zinonos.
Most Cypriots residing in Libya are there for work purposes. One of the companies employing around 98 Cypriots is the construction company Joannou and Paraskevaides (J&P). Spokesman for the company Sotos Zakheos confirmed that of the 98 Cypriots, 15 of them are on holiday and not in Libya at the moment. The other 83 are working with two in Benghazi and the rest in Tripoli. “We’re in contact with all of them and they are well,” said Zakheos adding that they are in constant contact with the leadership at the various construction sites. Pericles Stivaros, the Cypriot Ambassador in Tripoli commented that so far only one of the construction sites belonging to Paraskevaides, containing about 40 to 45 men, outside Benghazi has been vacated.
An anxious daughter of a J&P employee in Libya, who wishes to remain anonymous, described how difficult the situation was especially as neither she nor her father were being told very much.
“We don’t really know anything and nobody’s telling them anything,” she said yesterday. “He’s also worried because he’s quite close to the trouble,” she added.
During her calls throughout the afternoon to the Cypriot Embassy in Libya and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs she was told that the airport was closed in Tripoli.
She explained how two nights ago the employees at the construction site where her father works spent most of the night hauling equipment out of the construction zone for fear that it might get stolen.
“The situation with the airport is not clear,” said Zinonos mentioning that it was the circumstances on the streets that was stopping people from getting to the airport.
Evacuating people was not an easy task, said foreign ministry officials, as a lot of people lived up to thousands of kilometres away from the airport and getting them there was dangerous.
In order to reassure Cypriots in Libya, the embassy has opened its doors to anyone that does not feel safe and invites them to stay there.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also issued travel advice to citizens of the Republic of Cyprus urging them to refrain from travel to Libya, Sudan and Yemen.
For any consular information and assistance the duty officer at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs may be called on 99 660129.
