Feature: Egyptians narrate bitter suffering in turmoil-stricken Libya

Over the past few months, Egyptian expatriates crossed Salloum Land Port in Egypt's Matrouh province to return home after bitter suffering in the turmoil-stricken Liyba.

A lot of them narrated long stories about the challenges and threats they faced on their way home, particularly following the airstrike the Egyptian forces launched in February at targets of extremists affiliated with the Islamic State (IS) militant group after the latter released a video showing the beheading of 21 Egyptian Copts in Libya.

"My brother has come empty-handed from Libya after he was stopped before reaching the Libyan border town of Musaed and all his luggage and money were taken," said Abdel-Rahman, talking about his 40-year-old brother Attiya who was too devastated to talk to the media.

Abbdel-Rahman told Xinhua that his brother worked at a pharmacy in Benghazi, expressing grief about his brother's loss of his one-year savings in Libya but at the same time he was pleased that Attiya made it home sound and safe despite the materialistic loss.

On their own words, many Egyptian expatriates in Libya were subjected to verbal and physical assaults by zealous and extremist Libyans who considered airstrikes in Libya transgression over the country's sovereignty, although the Libyan army said they were done through coordination between the Egyptian and the Libyan sides.

"After the airstrikes, some Libyans started to bother Egyptian sellers and buyers at marketplaces to the point that they would even call then names," said 30-year-old Eshaibi, who worked in the construction field near Benghazi.

Eshaibi, who is originally from Matrouh province, some 550 km northwest of the capital Cairo, told Xinhua that the people of Matrouh, particularly those from Salloum, suffer the least in Libya as they come from tribes similar to those in Libya and they could speak the Libyan Arabic dialect fluently.

The picture is not quite dim for Egyptian expatriates in Libya. Ali for example, a young Egyptian man in his 20s, told Xinhua in a phone interview that he decided to continue his construction work at the Libyan border town of Musaed, reassuring that the town is completely safe for Egyptians due to its closeness to the borders.

"It is just about 12 kms away from Egypt, so we feel completely safe and there are no problems for us working here," Ali said, noting that his work is going well and that he transfers money normally to his family back home.

The returnees said the Egyptian authorities provided them with utmost help and support until they returned to their home towns, particularly those who lacked money and provision on their arduous journey.

"In fact, the Egyptian authorities did a great job to help us before and after arriving at Salloum port; they really paid a great interest and there was no negligence on their part at all," a returnee who preferred not to be identified told Xinhua at the border land port.

Some 45,000 Egyptian expatriates have returned from Libya so far, about 75 percent of whom came through Salloum border crossing while the rest returned via air flights from Tunis to Cairo.

"There's no 'evacuation' imposed by the government on Egyptian expatriates in Libya, but we provide help and support for those who voluntarily decide to come back," Egyptian Foreign Ministry's spokesman Badr Abdel-Atty told Xinhua on Saturday.

Abdel-Atty also met on Saturday with family members of 26 missing Egyptians in Libya who attempted to illegally infiltrate from there to Italy, reassuring them that the foreign ministry does its best and coordinates with the concerned diplomats to find them. Endit