Angelina Jolie calls for continued support to populations fleeing Libya and humanitarian access to those inside
RAS ADJIR, Tunisia The UN refugee agencys Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie travelled on Tuesday morning to the Tunisian-Libyan border to urge greater international support for people fleeing Libya.
More than 400,000 people have escaped the violence in Libya in the last month, arriving in surrounding countries such as Tunisia, Egypt, Niger, Algeria, Chad and Sudan. Tunisia alone has received more than half of the outflow from Libya and has mobilized an outstanding relief operation.
The outpouring of generosity from the Tunisian people says so much for the future of this country, said UNHCRs Goodwill Ambassador. It is a sign of the openness sweeping across the region.
At the end of February, transit facilities were erected 7 km inside Tunisia to provide temporary shelter. At the same time, UNHCR and the International Organization for Migration began helping migrants home with a humanitarian air evacuation. Today, over 70,000 people have reached home safely with help from UNHCR and IOM, but more continue to arrive. Some 11,000 third country nationals are still in transit.
The international community has done well to reinforce Tunisias remarkable relief effort, said Jolie. But with 2,000 people still crossing each day, we cannot let the funding dry up and need to sustain the momentum.
During the visit, an important contribution is being made by the Jolie-Pitt Foundation to help sustain the humanitarian evacuations being carried out. The Foundation covered the costs for a flight of 177 persons to return to their countries of origin and purchased an ambulance to help support Tunisian efforts on the border to assist the injured arriving from Libya.
We would encourage others, individuals and governments, to continue to support and assist with the needs on the ground, said Jolie.
While migrants make up the majority of these new arrivals, there are also some 2,500 people from war-torn countries who are unable to return home and thus require international protection.
Theyre waiting here with little hope, unable to return home and unsure of whats to come. This constant cycle of displacement must finally come to an end, said Jolie.
In conversations on Tuesday with people who had recently left Libya, UNHCRs Goodwill Ambassador was told of heavy fighting inside the country. She listened to harrowing stories of checkpoints, harassment and assaults. She appealed for measures that would allow the UN and non-governmental organizations to access Libya, and to distribute urgent assistance, including food and medical supplies.
Jolie also heard dramatic accounts of eastern and sub-Saharan Africans being deliberately targeted inside Libya. Many remain in hiding in desperate conditions, unable to move for fear of violence. Jolie called for a humanitarian corridor to facilitate the safe access of these populations to points of refuge.
Without this corridor, thousands of eastern and sub-Saharan Africans are escaping Libya by sea, relying on unseaworthy vessels organized by smugglers. In recent weeks, there have been several landings on the small Italian island of Lampedusa as well as interceptions off the coast of Tunisia. There are also reports of some people not surviving the perilous journey across the Mediterranean.
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Update No.24 on the humanitarian situation in Libya and the neighbouring countries
10 May 2011 ... ... Five boats arrived last weekend on Lampedusa, carrying close to 2,400 people. Most are sub-Saharan ... Italian coastguard and maritime police, with one boat running aground close to the Lampedusa shore. ...... -
Update No.26 on the humanitarian situation in Libya and the neighbouring countries
27 May 2011 ... ... there remain 986 people in the reception center in Lampedusa and there are reports that tensions in the reception center are rising due to the prolonged detention of Tunisian migrants in Lampedusa. ...... -
UNHCR - Statement on boat incident off Greece coast
21 Jan 2014 ... More than 360 people died on October 3rd 2013 in a capsizing off of Italy's Lampedusa. Several other deadly incidents were reported over the following weeks. Irregular boat crossings of the ...... -
Danger on the deep blue sea
10 Dec 2014 ... He fled the war at home with his brother and paid US$ 2,000 to board an overcrowded boat to Italy. But the vessel capsized just off the island of Lampedusa, one of two shipwrecks last October in which ...... -
Update No.21 on the humanitarian situation in Libya and the neighbouring countries
26 Apr 2011 ... ... facilities throughout Italy, only 18 Tunisians and 9 non-Tunisians currently remain at Lampedusa. ... Lampedusa L ampedusa L ampedusa L ampedusa L ampedusa L ampedusa L ampedusa Lampedusa L ampedusa L ...... -
UNHCR Global Appeal 2007 - Western Europe Regional Overview
1 Dec 2006 ... Boatloads continued to arrive in Italy (most notably in Lampedusa), Malta and Greece. Given the ... European shores, like this group intercepted by the Italian Coast Guard off the coast of Lampedusa. ...... -
UNHCR Global Report 2006 - Europe Overview
1 Jun 2007 ... ... arriving by sea on the Italian island of Lampedusa, Malta and the Canary Islands, among whom was ... approaches as done on the Italian island of Lampedusa, support for strengthening of reception ...... -
Year of return and partnerships, but challenges remain, says Lubbers
8 Oct 2004 ... The issue is currently in the spotlight with the deportation of new arrivals on Italy's Lampedusa island to Libya. "Finally, we have access to Lampedusa but let's be honest: it's a bit too late," said ...... -
Update No.18 on the humanitarian situation in Libya and the neighbouring countries
12 Apr 2011 ... ... The remaining number of people currently remaining in Lampedusa is 1,568, mainly Tunisians. ... C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C Lampedusa L ......