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As airstrikes start, UNHCR continues to prepare for exodus from Libya

News Stories, 21 March 2011

Some people at the Sallum crossing, like this man from Sudan, have to wait days before they can move on.

SALLUM, Egypt, March 21 – As aircraft bombed Libyan military targets and imposed a UN-sanctioned no-fly zone over the North African country at the weekend, hundreds of Libyans joined foreigners fleeing to Egypt.

A mass exodus from eastern Libya, where government forces have been trying to seize the opposition-held city of Benghazi, has not materialized, but UNHCR is continuing to prepare for a possible spike in the number of arrivals in Egypt.

On Monday morning, a UNHCR-chartered cargo plane was headed for Alexandria in Egypt carrying six prefabricated warehouses, one vehicle and non-food aid items, including plastic sheets, jerry cans, kitchen sets and sleeping mats from emergency stockpile in Dubai. UNHCR wants to build up a stock to cope with 50,000 people and has also been buying thousands of tents in Egypt.

Arrivals at Egypt's Sallum border crossing point have been significant in recent days, but not near past peak levels. On Saturday, the day that French airstrikes were launched in the east, a total of 2,823 people crossed into Egypt, most of them Libyans (2,320). Figures for Sunday were not yet available, but UNHCR staff said the numbers were down on the day before.

Many of the newly arrived Libyans are in need of medical assistance, including psycho-social support. Several spoke of intensified attacks by pro-government forces last week against heavily populated areas in the east and said this was why they had left for the border.

"We stayed in our house for days while nearby buildings were attacked, destroyed, we had no supplies," said one man from the town of Ajdabiyya, who fled to the Sallum border on Saturday. "We managed to come out when there was a lull in fighting, but what is going on now in our town?," asked the man, who was talking before the no-fly zone was enforced.

Most of the Libyans face minimal immigration checks and are quickly waved through the border, but many of the people from third countries have been stuck in no-man's land for days as efforts are made to repatriate them or find other solutions. UNHCR has been helping to provide 10,000 meals a day for these people, while the UN Children's Fund has provided dozens of latrines.

Egyptian authorities have sought UN help in preparing for an influx of Libyans.

The army has set up communal tents to house up to 600 Libyans who have problems with their documentation on arrival.

On the other side of Libya, in Tunisia, people have continued to cross the border to try and escape the conflict. UNHCR staff report sporadic sounds of gunfire coming from inside Libya. Several hundred people crossed on Monday, mainly from Bangladesh, Egypt, Somalia and Sudan.

Also on Monday afternoon, UNHCR staff saw four New York Times journalists cross the border several days after they were detained in eastern Libya without visas by pro-government forces. "We saw them crossing through," said UNHCR's Ziad Ayad, adding that reports indicated the four were "reasonably healthy. "

On the weekend, about 1,500 people crossed into Tunisia at the Ras Adjir border point. They included 271 people from Bangladesh, 322 Egyptians, 103 Somalis and 594 people from Ghana as well as people of several other nationalities.

New arrivals are taken to the nearby Choucha transit camp. In recent days, the camp population has fluctuated between 3,000 and 5,000 as people arrive and others are repatriated.

Almost 320,000 people, mainly migrant workers, have fled from Libya since the crisis began with anti-government protests in mid-February. The figure includes 165,000 to Tunisia, almost 140,000 to Egypt, some 6,000 to Niger and more than 9,000 to Algeria.

Under an emergency evacuation programme, UNHCR and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) have run more than 250 flights to repatriate some 56,000 people from Tunisia, Egypt and Algeria since the start of March.

UNHCR Hotline numbers:

In Libya

Land line:+218-21-4777503 (24 hours)

Mobile:+218-92-552-3671 (9:00 to 14:00 hours)

Mobile:+218-91-444-31-94

Mobile:+218-92-686-23-38

In Geneva

+41 22 739 8855

+41 22 739 8465

+41 22 739 7484

+41 22 739 8542

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Libya Emergency

High Commissioner's Libya Appeal

High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres addresses the situation in Tunisia and UNHCR's response to the emergency.

UNHCR country pages

UNHCR Supplementary Appeal

UNHCR Supplementary Budget: The Libya Situation, March 2011

Protection considerations with regard to people fleeing from Libya. Update No.1

On the Border: Stuck in Sallum

After violence erupted in Libya in February last year, tens of thousands of people began streaming into Egypt at the Sallum border crossing. Most were Egyptian workers, but almost 40,000 third country nationals also turned up at the border and had to wait until they could be repatriated. Today, with the spotlight long gone, a group of more than 2,000 people remain, mainly single young male refugees from the Sudan. But there are also women, children and the sick and elderly waiting for a solution to their situation. Most are likely to be resettled in third countries, but those who arrived after October are not being considered for resettlement, while some others have been rejected for refugee status. They live in tough conditions at the Egyptian end of the border crossing. A site for a new camp in no man's land has been identified. UNHCR, working closely with the border authorities, plays the major role in providing protection and assistance.

On the Border: Stuck in Sallum

Displacement Challenges for Libya

Libya endured severe upheaval in 2011 and the next government faces major challenges moving the country forward after four decades of Muammar Gaddafi's rigid rule. One task will be addressing and resolving the issue of tens of thousands of internally displaced people. Some are waiting for their homes to be repaired or rebuilt, but many more have been forced to desert their towns and villages because of their perceived support for Gaddafi and alleged crimes committed during the conflict. Meanwhile, growing numbers of people, including refugees and asylum-seekers, are coming to Libya from sub-Saharan Africa on well travelled mixed migration routes. Some are being detained as illegal immigrants, though many are people of concern. Others have risked the dangerous sea crossing to southern Europe.

Displacement Challenges for Libya

Angelina Jolie meets boat people in Malta, Lampedusa

Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie joined UNHCR chief António Guterres on the Italian island of Lampedusa, where they met with boat people who have fled unrest in North Africa.

More than 40,000 people, including refugees and asylum-seekers, have crossed the Mediterranean on overcrowded boats and descended on the small island since the beginning of the year.

The UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador flew to Lampedusa from Malta, which has also been a destination for people fleeing North Africa by boat.