March 1st, 2011 
admin A refugee crisis is looming on the Libyan-Tunisian border as thousands of foreign workers try to escape the fighting with concern also growing over how long food stocks inside Libya can last, aid agencies have warned.
The UN high commission for refugees said 140,000 people have now fled Libya – half of them crossing into Egypt and half into Tunisia. Most refugees are Egyptians who had been working there. On the Egyptian border they have dispersed to their home towns and villages.
On the Tunisian side, local authorities’ efforts to deal with them are being overwhelmed as between 1,000 and 2,000 people cross every hour, according to aid workers there.
Tunisia has tried to stem the flow to clear more space for tents and stock up on food supplies, prompting a backlog of around 20,000 refugees on the Libyan side waiting to get through, with rising fears for their wellbeing as they have little food and are left exposed at night to the cold.
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