BRITAIN faces a wave of migrants from Libya after a demand from the UN yesterday that Europe opens its borders to refugees.The UN said 140,000 people had fled the troubled state – half of them crossing into Egypt and half into Tunisia.
Officials have warned that the situation in Tunisia is reaching crisis point with thousands of refugees in urgent need of food, water and shelter.
Mark Petzold, Tunisia’s mission chief for the International Organisation for Migration, said: “With thousands of migrants still awaiting authorisation to enter Tunisia, there is an urgent need to decongest the border area which lacks adequate facilities to host large numbers of people.”
Fleeing migrant workers have also been attacked by opponents of Colonel Gaddafi, mistaking them for mercenaries who are being used by the government to quash the rebellion.
It is thought EU nations, including Britain, could see an influx of refugees leaving north Africa.
The number could swell with Egypt and Tunisia also in political turmoil.
The UN Emergency Relief co-ordinator Baroness Amos yesterday told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “In asking for the borders of neighbouring countries like Tunisia and Egypt to stay open, it is important that EU borders also stay open.
“I know the EU countries are going through a difficult financial time but they are still much better off than people who are fleeing a violent and difficult situation in Libya.
“We will continue to ask the EU and neighbouring countries to keep their borders open.”
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