AFP
Libyan border guards fired warning shots yesterday to keep back a crowd of people trying to enter Tunisia as they fled the conflict in Libya, a Tunisian army officer said.
A Tunisian official was wounded by a stray bullet at the Ras Jdir crossing, where the incident took place and which was shut after the clashes.
The Tunisian foreign ministry urged its estimated 50,000 to 60,000 nationals in neighbouring Libya to leave “as soon as possible” because of violence that has raged there since mid-July.
“The ministry of foreign affairs urges Tunisians who find themselves in Libyan territory to return home as soon as possible,” a ministry statement said.
Underlining “the deteriorating security situation in several Libyan cities”, the ministry urged its citizens to contact Tunisian consular offices in Tripoli and Benghazi to facilitate their repatriation.
The Tunisian army officer said Libyan guards opened fire to push back hundreds of people attempting to force their way across the frontier.
The interior ministry said the head of national security at Ben Guerdane was hit in the leg by a stray bullet from the Libyan side of the border.
An AFP correspondent on the Tunisian side said gunfire was heard from the Libyan side late in the morning, leading to the crossing’s closure.
“The Egyptians wanted to force their way through, and the Libyans fired,” the Tunisian officer said. “If they cross, we will fire too.”
Tunisian forces fired teargas at the crowd, he added.
Tunisian interior ministry spokesman Mohamed Ali Arui said: “Closure of the crossing is temporary.”
He said reinforcements have been sent to deal with any further incidents and to stop weapons or fighters getting through from Libya.
Arui could not say if anyone in the crowd had been hurt.
The ministry estimates 6,000 people are stranded on the Libyan side of Ras Jdir crossing.
Tunisia has been letting its own citizens through and also Libyans with the correct paperwork, but barring Arab and Asian foreigners unless they or their governments have arranged immediate repatriation.
Amid the confusion, there were rumours that the Libyans had actually fired into the crowd, and that a number of people had been killed, but no confirmation was available on the Tunisian side.
One woman who had fled the Libyan capital, and who did not want to be identified, said: “What you see on the border is nothing compared with what is happening there.
“Every day things get worse—it’s the end for Libya.”
Less fortunate was a Tunisian woman, Amina Bouraoui, who was allowed past the Libyan controls but stopped by her compatriots.
She said her purse had been stolen and so she did not have her papers.
“I gave them the number of my ID card, but they wouldn’t let me through,” she said.
“I haven’t eaten since yesterday, and am truly astonished that I am being treated like this by the authorities of my country,” added the 31-year-old.
A group of 50 Indonesians had better luck yesterday. They were allowed to cross after a vehicle with Indonesian diplomats was sent to evacuate them.
On Wednesday, Foreign Minister Mongi Hamad said Tunisia cannot cope with any massive influx of refugees who might seek to enter from Libya.
“Our country’s economic situation is precarious, and we cannot cope with hundreds of thousands of refugees,” as was the case during the 2011 revolution that ousted Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.
Libya has suffered chronic insecurity since Gaddafi’s overthrow, with the new government unable to check militias that helped to remove him and facing a growing threat from Islamist groups.
Fighting between rival militias in Tripoli has forced the closure of the city’s international airport, while Islamist groups are battling army special forces in the eastern city of Benghazi.
In the past week, many countries have ordered their citizens to leave and, in some cases, have evacuated them.
Tripoli fears
collapse of
healthcare if
Asians flee
Libya has warned of a “total collapse” of its healthcare system as the chaos plaguing the country threatens to send into flight many of the Filipino and Indian staff on whom its hospitals depend.
Fighting between rival militias in Tripoli over the past three weeks and bloody clashes between Islamists and army special forces in the eastern city of Benghazi have prompted several countries to evacuate their nationals and diplomatic staff.
Now, 3,000 health workers from the Philippines, making up 60% of Libya’s hospital staff, could leave—along with workers from India, who account for another 20%.
Libyan hospitals, meanwhile, are flooded with a wave of admissions, victims of the fighting which has shaken the capital and Benghazi.
Manila already urged its citizens in Libya to leave on July 20 after a kidnapped Filipino worker was found beheaded.
Of the estimated 13,000 Filipinos in Libya, only around 700 heeded the warning and left. The rest refused to abandon their jobs despite the dangers.
But Manila said on Thursday it would charter ferries to evacuate its nationals, a day after a Filipina nurse was kidnapped and gang-raped in Tripoli.
Hundreds of Filipino doctors and nurses in Tripoli’s Medical Centre walked out in protest at the savage attack on their colleague, unleashing anarchy in the hospital.
Families were forced to transfer sick relatives to private clinics, a hospital official said.
“Hospitals could be paralysed” in the event of the mass-departure of Philippine nationals, health ministry spokesman Ammar Mohamed said, while authorities warned of a possible “total collapse” of the healthcare system.
A medical official said the ministry was trying to persuade the Filipinos to stay.
Complicating the situation further are the difficulties faced by Libyan staff as they struggle to keep work hours.
Mohamed said Libyan doctors and carers have been struggling to reach their workplace from home because of fighting around the capital and fuel shortages.
Faced with the deteriorating situation at home, Health Minister Nureddin Doghman has instructed Tripoli’s missions in Egypt, Tunisia, Jordan, Turkey, Italy, Greece and Germany to organise the transport and care for Libyans needing treatment, to be paid for by Tripoli.
But the closure of Libya’s airports in Tripoli and Benghazi because of the unrest has made medical transfers even more difficult.
“My brother spent several days in hospital after suffering a stroke. His health deteriorated day after day and the doctors told us he should be treated in Tunisia, but we could find no way to transfer him there,” said Ahmed Drughi, a Tripoli resident.
“In the end we had to use contacts to find him a place on a medical plane flying out of Misrata,” 200km east of the capital.
Even in peacetime, Libya’s health services were understaffed and under-equipped, and tens of thousands of Libyans travelled abroad for treatment, mostly to neighbouring Tunisia and Egypt.
In Benghazi, two out of three of the city’s main hospitals have shut.
Al-Jala hospital closed several weeks ago, as the army and an Islamist militia tussle to control it. Al-Houari hospital has been closed for months, after being flooded by sewage because of construction errors.
Only Benghazi Medical Centre remains operational, but its capacity has been limited to 300 beds, compared with 1,200 in normal times.
“The centre is hit by a lack of doctors and carers, particularly after the departure of the foreigners,” said spokesman Moataz al-Majbari.
Many patients have had to be transferred elsewhere and have wound up in poorly-equipped clinics in neighbouring towns.
