Libya refugee torrent slows

The torrent of refugees fleeing Libya has suddenly slowed, UN officials say.

An international effort to shelter and repatriate thousands still stranded on the Tunisian side of the border picked up speed.

UN officials said security forces of Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi are stepping up threats and intimidation of foreign workers trying to flee.

Many of those labourers who reached neighbouring Tunisia said they had been robbed by Libyan security forces and by ordinary Libyans.

They were stopped at checkpoints and ordered to hand over cash and cell phone memory cards.

A Tunisian aid official said border traffic was slow today because fewer Libyan border officials were at work on the Muslim day of rest.

Many people are waiting in Libyan villages near the border and will attempt to cross on Saturday.

An international aid effort is under way at the chaotic Libyan-Tunisian frontier, where about 17,000 people who fled Libya are being housed until they can catch flights to their home countries, said Goran Stojanovski of the UN’s refugee agency.

More than 200,000 people have fled to neighbouring Tunisia, Egypt and Niger since February 15, when the uprising against Gaddafi began, and some have reported intimidation and having to pay huge sums of money to get to the border.

Many of those who made it across more recently told The Associated Press that they had been robbed of money and mobile phones by Libyan soldiers, police and civilians as they escaped.

“Many people appear to be frightened and are unwilling to speak,” said agency spokeswoman Melissa Fleming in Geneva, Switzerland. “They feel hunted and targeted.”

In the last 24 hours, fewer than 2,000 people made it to Tunisia, compared with 10,000 to 15,000 in previous days, she said, linking the drop to Gaddafi forces trying to choke off the flow.

“The security situation in Libya may be preventing people from fleeing,” Fleming said. “If (the Libyan) military control of the border and roads reduces, a huge exodus of people could resume.”

Monji Slim, head of the Red Crescent in southern Tunisia, said this slowdown is largely due to the fact that fewer Libyan border officials are at work on Friday, the Muslim day of rest.

He said he was told that thousands of foreign workers are waiting in Libyan villages near the border and are expected to attempt the crossing Saturday.

Some Africans crossing the border had bitter tales of harsh treatment by both pro- and anti-Gaddafi Libyans, with the rebels fearing they were mercenaries hired by Gaddafi to defend his regime. Some Eritreans said they were stopped 20 times, robbed of their money and all their belongings.

In Tunisia, evacuations picked up for Egyptians and other foreigners. British, French and UN planes were taking turns getting Egyptian workers to Cairo. France was preparing to evacuate 5,000 Egyptians who arrived in Tunisia by air and boat. Egypt itself has repatriated tens of thousands of citizens.

The UN was also evacuating 3,100 Egyptians from the Tunisian port of Djerba to Cairo.

The International Organisation for Migration was organising two flights to take the increasing number of Bangladeshis from the Tunisian capital of Tunis back to Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh.