Hundreds of Libyan Berbers flee Western Mountains and head to Tunisia

News Stories, 12 April 2011

© UNHCR/P.Moore
People at the Libya-Egypt border tell UNHCR staff of displacement in eastern Libya, such as these people in the desert outside the town of Ajdabiya.

GENEVA, April 12 (UNHCR) – The UN refugee agency reported Tuesday that more than 500 Libyans, mostly ethnic Berbers, have fled their homes in Libya's Western Mountains and sought shelter in the Dehiba area of south-east Tunisia over the past week.

"They have told us that mounting pressure on the cities of the Western Mountains by government forces, lack of basic medical supplies and shortages of food prompted their departure," UNHCR spokesman Andrej Mahecic told journalists in Geneva.

He noted that Dehiba was located about 200 kilometres south of Ras Adjir, the border crossing where tens of thousands of people fleeing Libya since the conflict erupted in mid-February have entered Tunisia.

Mahecic said the new arrivals had very limited resources and "have significant humanitarian needs." The local authorities have allocated a sports field in Remada town, 45 kms inside Tunisia, where UNHCR has established a camp with 130 tents.

"Electricity and water have been connected and other services are being set up. UNHCR is working with a local partner Al Taáwon, and the Tunisian Red Crescent to rapidly provide support," the spokesman added.

The local community in Tunisia has offered considerable assistance, opening homes to hundreds of Libyan families. Youth hostels in Dehiba and the town of Tataouine further west are also being used to shelter families. A school near the camp in Remada has offered to take Libyan students.

Mahecic also said people crossing the Libyan-Egyptian border had given UNHCR field staff more details about displacement in eastern Libya between the towns of Ajdabiya and Tobruk, with thousands of families now in Benghazi and Tobruk. "While many are staying with local families, a small number are taking refuge in schools and empty buildings. People tell us they fear being trapped in Ajdabiya should government forces prevail," Mahecic said.

An estimated 1,200 displaced families are in Tobruk, where the Libyan Red Crescent is distributing aid supplied by UNHCR, mainly blankets and mattresses.

People also continue to flee Libya by sea to Italy and Malta. This morning, the Maltese armed forces came to the help of a boat carrying 116 people, including a dead woman, according to media reports. More than 1,100 people have arrived in Malta from Libya on five boats since March 26. In Italy, three boats carrying 1,008 people arrived on Lampedusa Island from Libya over the weekend, mainly Somalis and Nigerians. Since March 26, a total of 3,358 people have reached Italian territory from Libya.

Almost 500,000 people have fled Libya since mid-February, including some 200,000 to Egypt, 236,000 to Tunisia, more than 36,000 to Niger, about 14,000 to Algeria, 6,200 to Chad and 2,800 to Sudan.

Last Sunday, some 3,900 people crossed the Sallum border into Egypt, including 3,000 Libyans. "This is double the average number of Libyans that have crossed on a daily basis in the past few weeks," Mahecic noted, adding: "On the same day, 2,992 people crossed at Ras Adjir into Tunisia, including 2,173 Libyans." These numbers include some Libyans who are crossing for trade.