Refugees flee Libya for Tunisia

As fighting continues in the besieged Libyan city of Misrata between rebels and government forces, thousands of refugees are arriving in southern Tunisia each day as they flee hostility in Libya's Western Mountains region.

“They’re equally in very difficult circumstances,” says Steven Loyst, Head of Operations for International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) based in Tunisia. “Like elsewhere in the country, they’re bringing to us reports of violence, of abuses committed.

“The journey they make across the country is not an easy one. They’re often robbed along the way and arrive at the border, and then subsequently at our transit camp, in quite a bad state.”

Many of the refugees crossing into Tunisia are third-party nationals, and Loyst says that most of those living in IFRC transit camps are from Niger and Chad. The International Organization for Migration has been organizing flights for them to return to their home countries.

“All the people that we spoke with – their primary concern is really getting back to their country of origin.”

Listen to Steven Loyst’s full interview with Kelsea Brennan-Wessels: