Saturday, March 5, 2011

The militia of the border Gaddafi armored Refugees: "We were taken hostage"

RAS Ajdir - (border between Libya and Tunisia) is now afraid to get to the blue gate of the Tunisian border. The flood wave has passed, the refugees have become a trickle, constant but slight, and the evacuation goes forward between Djerba and Zarzis without excessive anxiety. But the suspicion that circulated at the border post yesterday has turned into anxiety was expressed when the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees: "We fear that troops loyal to Gaddafi in Libya are holding back the fugitives and prevent them from reaching the Tunisian border, "said spokeswoman Melissa Fleming in Geneva.

UNHCR speaks of "heavily armed loyalist forces" and suggests that over the huts of Ras Ajdir, in Libya, the Libyan regime has in fact created concentration camps for those who until recently worked in its industry. There are no direct confirmation, but the players on the field speak of "new rules of the exodus." Everything would be leaving after the unusual "show" of the Libyan border police, who four days ago she appeared in an unexpected (and modest) distribution of aid to refugees waiting at the gate of Tunisia.

Since then, experts say, the flow was slowed down to almost nil, while the few that come out seem intimidated. The UN is careful to clarify what could be the purpose of this hypothetical block and assumptions are the most varied: that the faithful have the colonel's intention of obtaining a large number of "human shields" who simply want to embarrass the 'host Tunisian slowing the flow of fugitives and then opening the doors at once, or to insist that put out the evidence of what happens in the cities of Libya, as in recent days were already blocking the wounded and the kidnapping fugitives memory cards to prevent the release of unpleasant images taken with mobile phones, in a public relations operation run out of time.

The decrease in arrivals has had the paradoxical effect of facilitating, for the moment, the evacuation of the refugees were accepted in the land of Tunisia. A Ras Ajdir the Bangladeshi community, newcomers, you are placing in the tent city of the High Commissioner UN. Djerba airport now ranks are reduced, the 60 hours were arranged extra flights to bring the fugitives in their countries: China, Vietnam, Pakistan, Philippines.

In the morning the last group of Egyptians greeted the arm Tunisia showing the flag of the host country. "The hang on my house in Cairo," said proud Abdelfatah Sayed, a lawyer, just back from two years working as a tiler well-paid in Libya, after nearly a year of unemployment in Brescia.

But if the Libyan loyalist troops are blocking the exodus, if that is beyond the border there are, as we assume, thousands of refugees waiting, may be useful even late European contribution. On Thursday, the Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid, the Bulgarian Kristalina Georgieva, arrived in Ras Ajdir to announce the allocation of € 30 million, had been challenged by Tunisian volunteers.

"We are working on their own since 20 February, what did you do? Sleep?". It remains to be seen what the reception of Tunisia to the Italian delegation, which arrived last night in Djerba, together with a C-130 to transport the refugees Egyptians. But there is no hurry to two weeks after the emergency, the Italian is only an exploratory mission.

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