© UNHCR/A. Branthwaite

The heads of UNHCR and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) visited Tunisia in early March and called for continued international humanitarian efforts as people still flee Libya by the thousands.

The number of people who have fled the violence in Libya has passed 280,000, including 151,324 to Tunisia and 117,991 to Egypt. At its peak, 14,000 people fled the country on a single day.

UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres and IOM Director General William Swing noted that a joint IOM-UNHCR humanitarian evacuation initiative had dramatically relieved the overcrowding at the border with the immediate airlift response of governments. Egypt, Tunisia, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom have all offered air or sea transport and within days, tens of thousands of Egyptians were flown home.

Swing and Guterres recognized the large-scale efforts by the Tunisian government, civil society and the Tunisian Red Crescent, together with international organizations, to assist every individual crossing its border. "An open border is the most precious thing you can have in a refugee crisis…At a moment of tragedy, the Tunisian government and its people are setting an example of humanitarian generosity by opening their borders and their homes," said Guterres.

While UNHCR has seen a sharp drop in the numbers crossing the Tunisian border, with a peak of 10,000 – 15,000 being reduced to 2,000 in early March, this drop has coincided with intensified fighting in western Libya. UNHCR is increasingly worried that this is linked to reports of people being impeded from fleeing, with reports that the border on the Libyan side is now manned by heavily armed pro-government forces.

As the fighting in Libya escalates, the situation could quickly become acute again at the border. Around 2,500 people are arriving at the border daily and evacuation flights are not keeping pace, with only 800-1,200 people departing each day. Currently, there are 17,000 people at the Choucha border transit camp comprising 25 nationalities, most of them Bangladeshi. All are awaiting onwards travel. UNHCR and IOM have renewed a call for more long-haul flights to Bangladesh and other Asian and sub-Saharan African destinations, with a current estimated shortage of some 70 long-haul flights.

UNHCR is also concerned about accounts of violence and discrimination against sub-Saharan Africans. After news spread that the Libyan regime was using mercenaries from sub-Saharan Africa, UNHCR received reports of armed Libyans going door to door, forcing sub-Saharan Africans to leave. Also of concern is the plight of large numbers crossing from war torn countries like Somalia who cannot be repatriated. UNHCR is calling for all parties to recognize the vulnerability of refugees and migrants from sub-Saharan Africa and to take measures to ensure their protection.

UNHCR appealed earlier this month to donors for US$32 million to fund its continuing emergency response operations for the Libya crisis. The bulk of the supplementary funding will be used for protection needs, to support the continuing humanitarian evacuation of thousands of people stuck in Tunisia and Egypt, and for life-saving aid supplies. "We urgently need the funding," noted Panos Moumtzis, head of donor relations at UNHCR. The amount sought by UNHCR is part of a United Nations flash appeal for US$160 million.