Thousands of Egyptians have been streaming into Tunisia from Libya Libya exodus sparks border crisis
Thousands of Egyptians have been streaming into Tunisia from Libya Libya’s border with Tunisia is being overrun with migrants, many of them from Egypt, fleeing turmoil in Libya, aid workers say.
A UN refugee official told the BBC that 20,000 Egyptians were stranded and needed food and shelter. Many are sleeping in the open despite the cold.
Some Egyptian refugees staged protests shouting: “We want to go home.”
About 100,000 people have fled anti-government unrest in Libya over the past week, the UN estimates.
The BBC’s Jim Muir at the Ras Jdir border crossing with Tunisia says the exodus of Egyptian workers from western Libya began on Wednesday, but has been intensifying daily since then.
The refugees are taken by bus to a nearby camp, but Liz Eyster of the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), told the BBC that Tunisian authorities were no longer able to cope with the influx.
“They’ve been accommodating people in shelters, schools and places of their own. But we’re now aware of the fact that they’re very much stretched and they need the support of the international community.”
Monji Slim, the local representative of the Red Crescent, told AFP news agency: “It is a humanitarian crisis, our capacities to take in people are exhausted. The entire world should mobilise to help Egypt repatriate its nationals.”
Gaddafi’s sons told ABC News there were no attacks on protesters
About 7,000 Egyptians have already been evacuated by air, but Ms Eyster said there was a “bottleneck in getting the Egyptians back home”.
One stranded refugee said: “All the people here are demonstrating because they want to go to Egypt. All countries are sending aircraft to rescue their people – Turkey, Korea, India, Bangladesh – everyone is arriving and leaving except for Egyptians.”
The exodus comes as the Libyan leader, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, battles for political survival in an uprising that began in the east of the country.
At least 1,000 people are believed to have been killed in nearly two weeks of violence in which eastern cities cities have fallen to anti-government forces, who have also been joined by a number of senior officials.
Col Gaddafi is facing the biggest challenge to his 41-year rule, but still controls the capital Tripoli.
AT THE SCENE
I spoke to doctors, to a lawyer, to various police officers who have changed sides – there were soldiers there who changed sides as well – and they’re running (Zawiya) as a sort of people’s republic in the centre of the town.
Some people are saying that the town is split. They’re saying there may even be a protest rally in favour of Gaddafi. We await that with interest.
But certainly the people in the centre of town – at least a couple of thousand – were adamant they were not going to budge.
However the centre of Zawiya, about 50km (30 miles) to the west, was being held by the anti-government camp on Sunday.
Pro-Gaddafi forces are surrounding the city.
Some of the demonstrators in Zawiya fired weapons into the air, saying they were protesting peacefully but were ready to fight.
“This is our revolution,” some, quoted by Reuters news agency, chanted.
A number of protesters stood on top of a captured tank while others crowded around an anti-aircraft gun, Reuters added.
In a televised speech on Thursday, Col Gaddafi addressed the people of Zawiya, saying young people were being duped with drugs and alcohol to take part in “destruction and sabotage”.
The UN Security Council unanimously backed an arms embargo and asset freeze on the Libyan government.
It also voted to refer Col Gaddafi to the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against humanity.
Col Gaddafi’s son Saif al-Islam denied that his father had any assets abroad.
“We are a very modest family and everybody knows that,” he told ABC News. “They are saying we have money in Europe or Switzerland… It’s a joke.”
US President Barack Obama has said the Libyan leader should step down and leave the country immediately.
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