Libya plans to recruit workers from Sudan according to the Libya’s General Union of . . .[restrict]Workers.
A delegation from Libya’s General Union of Workers visited Khartoum last week to set up new ties with Sudan and investigate the possibilities of benefiting from Sudan’s labour skills in order to rebuild Libya.
While in Khartoum, the head of Libyan union organisation, Wanis Mohamed Al-Turki, met with both Sudan’s labor minister Farah Mustafa and the chairman of the Sudan Workers Trade Union Federation, Ibrahim Gandour.
It was estimated by Sudanese officials last year that before the revolution there were half a million Sudanese workers in the country, making them the second biggest expatriate workforce after Egyptians. Tens of thousands fled back home during the uprising but many now want to return to Libya.
Union officials say that in their talks, Al-Turki and the Sudanese minister discussed the possibility of recruiting Sudanese workers and the rules under which they would be employed.
An agreement between the two country’s labour ministries is expected.
In a statement, Al-Turki was quoted as saying during the visit that Libya needed to recruit more Sudanese because they had proven skills and could contribute to the development of Libya. “There will be coordination in the near future with the [Sudanese] labor ministry in order to benefit from Sudan’s experience in setting regulations for work and making a real partnership between the two countries in all fields,” he said.
The vice-chairman of Sudan’s labor union, Ahmed Aljuned Ahmed, was quoted in the Kuwait-based newspaper “Alrai Al-Aam”saying that Turki’s visit came in the context of the new relationship between the two countries and the political changes in Libya.
The Sudanese government strongly supported the Libyan revolution last year.
Relations between the NTC and the government in Khartoum are now robust following years of acrimony, in no small part due to the former regime funding and arming the Darfur rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM). Last year, Qaddafi used JEM fighters as mercenaries to attack Kufra and elsewhere in the country.
In December, JEM’s leader Khalil Ibrahim was killed in an air raid on the house where he was hiding. Sudanese sources claim that the raid was coordinated with Libyan help
Last week it was reported that Libya and Sudan had approved in principal an agreement to secure the joint border.
The Sudanese army announced that a protocol was to be signed establishing a joint Sudanese-Libyan force to patrol the border on 28 February. Sudan has similar joint patrols on the Chadian and South Sudan frontiers.
The agreement follows inter-communal clashes in Kufra, on the main road from Libya to Sudan, and there were reports of 30 JEM fighters being captured in the town.
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