Caritas working with migrants stranded on Egypt-Libyan border

(March 07, 2011) A Caritas team has been assessing needs of migrant workers fleeing violence in Libya and stranded on the Egyptian-Libya border in Salloum. Around 6000 migrant workers are stranded in Salloum and around 5000 people are arriving daily. The team says there is an urgent need to speed up the repatriation process, which is slow because of the lack of documentation or lack of embassy support in repatriation efforts. The team includes staff from Caritas Egypt and Catholic Relief Services, CRS. Speaking from the border crossing, CRS Country Representative for Egypt Jason Belanger said some of the migrants are complaining they have not received enough food and water. Mostly men, they are sleeping out in the open. Sanitation is a key concern with an acute lack of toilets. Belanger said they are trying to provide food, bottled water, hand sanitizers and blankets as its quite cold at night. Caritas has sent another Emergency Response Teams to the Libyan-Tunisian borders in order to assess the refugee’s needs and set up emergency aid.