UNHCR:Poor countries bordering Libya, Ivory Coast and Somalia have taken in hundreds of thousands of

[pampango]

people fleeing conflicts, a refreshing attitude in a world often marked by xenophobia, the U.N. refugee boss said on Tuesday.

http://af.reuters.com/article/ghanaNews/idAFLDE7341EO20110405

UNHCR praises open borders for Libyans, Ivorians

U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres also paid tribute to Italy and Malta for sheltering economic migrants and refugees from North Africa -- even though Rome wants to send thousands of Tunisians seeking a better life back home.

"In Liberia, and in Egypt and Tunisia, I have seen people opening not only the border, but opening their hearts and their pockets in a way that I think is a lesson in today's world where we see so many demonstrations of populism, xenophobia and rejection of foreigners," he told a news briefing.

More than 439,000 people fleeing fighting between government forces and rebels in Libya have crossed mainly into Tunisia and Egypt, two countries grappling with their own democratic transitions and huge economic challenges, he said. Many were Tunisian or Egyptian workers, or migrants from Asia and sub-Saharan Africa who have been evacuated since, but Libyans were also welcomed, he said. Some 6,000 people still cross into the two countries each day.

"I was particularly impressed at the Tunisian border to see the communities around one of the poorest areas of Tunisia coming into the camps, bringing food, blankets, all kinds of items to support the displaced from Libya with a very generous and open-minded attitude," Guterres said.

[WatsonT]

1. I wonder how long this will last

if the war drags in to years, or even decades.

It's easy to be a good host for a month or two.

After that . . .

[Baclava]

2. What a fucking mess

Since heavy fighting broke out in Libya, and Qadhafi’s forces attacked and seized Ajdabiya, a strategic town on the road to the eastern oil fields, 180,000 Libyan citizens have fled the violence towards Egypt. They have been allowed to enter the country freely and without visas, in accordance with previously established bilateral border agreements. Not only Libyans, however, made the journey to Salloum.

In recent decades, Libya has invested significantly its service industries, feeding the boom with foreign manpower. The country has hosted millions of immigrants from several of its neighbors, including Egyptians, Chadians, Sudanese, Eritreans and Ethiopians. But when violence erupted in eastern Libya’s major urban centers, these African immigrants joined the Libyans in their flight to Egypt. Many of them had lost their passports in the chaos, or were forced to leave their documents with their Libyan employers, or else had entered Libya illegally in the first place, and so had no documents whatsoever

And tensions between the migrants in the past week have escalated at the overcrowded border. In such a constricted area, it is difficult to avoid the violent manifestation of tribal conflicts that separated them in their countries of origin. Clashes have broken out, and, in some instances, border officials called the Egyptian army to intervene in order to restore and maintain the fragile peace.

Further to the east, clashes are occurring nightly between the Egyptian army and armed thugs on the dangerous road between Marsa Matrouh and Salloum, and rumors of Bedouins smuggling weapons through the desert are circulating in the streets. The Egyptian military has increased its presence along the road, aiming to fortify the border.

“Some of the Libyan revolutionaries are refusing to surrender their weapons to the Egyptian authorities,” says a refugee from Ajdabiya who recently arrived in Marsa Matrouh. “They are crossing through the desert or entrusting them to Bedouin smugglers.”

http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/node/399171