Manpower and Immigration Minister Nahed al-Ashry said there are 500,000 to 800,000 Egyptians working in Libya, mostly in farms and the service sector.
“We cannot say exactly how many because many of them went there illegally,” she said, adding that it is also difficult to know the exact number because the embassy and the labor office in Tripoli were closed.
The minister also said that Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb gave instructions to immediately enroll the children of the workers returning from Libya in schools and universities, and to offer jobs to their parents.
“The Tunisian authorities help us evacuate the Egyptians stranded in Libya,” she said.
She said in general, the Egyptians there come mostly from Minya, Sohag, Assiut, Fayoum, Dakahlia and Beni Suef and they settle in Tripoli, Benghazi, Misrata, Sabha and Sirte.
