Today, the UNHCR, with the help of the Egyptian Red Crescent, brought 25 tones of UNHCR funded medical and food supplies into Tobruk, Libya. The supplies had been requested by the Libyan Red Crescent who said they were urgently needed. Seven trucks containing medical supplies including first aid medical kits and various items for emergency surgery and setting of broken bones, as well as baby milk and basic food items were transported from Cairo via Saloum border into Libya. Several hours after the delivery, UNHCR brought another 28 tones of goods to Saloum border, including blankets, sleeping mats, anti septic hand wash, hygienic wipes and garbage bags for some 5,000 people stranded at the border. The convoy of trucks from Cairo arrived at the end of the afternoon and UNHCR staff distributed until late in the evening. “The nights at the border are incredibly cold and many people are forced to spend the night out in the open,” said Samer Haddadin from the UNHCR team at the border, “blankets, plastic mats and food are the least we can give them while they wait for onward travel.” UNHCR has been working very closely with IOM and the Egyptian border authorities in trying to decongest and manage the border crossing, with IOM focusing on the return of the third country nationals (TCN) to their countries of origin. UNHCR and IOM have been providing food and drinking water on a daily basis with the Egyptian Red Crescent doing the distributions. Other NGOs and WFP have also come forward to contribute towards the food needs for those stranded at the Salum border. More than 101,925 people have crossed Saloum border since the uprising started on February 19th in Libya. Of these some 69908 people were Egyptians and more than 6000 Libyans. A very wide range of other nationalities have gathered at the border, with the communities from Bangladesh and Sudan topping the list. Other nationalities include people from Congo, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Vietnam, Thailand, Iraq, Palestine and many more. Most of these third country nationals are migrant workers, who are being flown out on evacuation flights organized by their embassies and IOM. UNHCR is liaising with the Government of Egypt to provide a safe haven to refugees among the people at the border. “Where should I go? The country where I was born is on fire,” said a man from Cote d'Ivoire who spent the past few years working in Libya and earning money to send home, “I had to run for my life to get out of Libya, did not get my last five month's wages, left my belongings behind… Will I now become a refugee?” UNHCR at present has emergency teams at the Libya border crossings with Egypt and Tunisia, while a third team is ready to enter Libya as soon as possible. BM
