At least 30 000 people, mainly Tunisian and Egyptian migrant workers, have fled violence in Libya, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said on Thursday.
The outflow is growing but consists mainly of foreigners and so far only includes about 325 Libyans, the aid agency said.
Separately, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said that no boats carrying asylum seekers or migrants are known to have left Libya for Europe. The UNHCR has urged all countries to keep open their borders for people fleeing the bloodshed.
“At least 30 000 have left by the two land borders with Tunisia and Egypt,” IOM spokesperson Jemini Pandya told Reuters.
Roughly 15 000 of them have crossed into Tunisia, the vast majority of them Tunisian nationals, she said. About 1 000 Egyptians, 830 Chinese and 300 Libyans are also among them.
“IOM staff say that those arriving at the [Tunisian] border are mainly coming from Tripoli. They include embassy staff and the ambassadors of various countries who have decided to quit the capital,” the Geneva-based IOM said in a statement.
The UN refugee agency is scheduled to start an airlift over the weekend to bring tents and other emergency shelter supplies into Djerba, Tunisia, spokesman Andrej Mahecic said.
About 15 000 Egyptians have left Libya for their own homeland, along with about two dozen Libyans, according to IOM. An estimated one million Egyptians were believed to live in Libya.
The IOM voiced concern that there is no evidence of large numbers among the tens of thousands of migrant workers from Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia leaving Libya for either Tunisia or Egypt.
“This is probably because they do not have the resources to pay for transport,” said Laurence Hart, IOM’s chief of mission for Libya. “Many countries without the adequate resources to evacuate their nationals are now asking IOM for help.”
About 170 Niger nationals have returned home, the first Sub-Saharan Africans to manage to leave chaotic Libya, IOM said.
“They say several hundred more of their compatriots are heading to Niger,” Pandya said, citing reports that some of the trucks had broken down in Libya. – Reuters