- Title: TUNISIA: Thousands of Egyptian refugees clamour for help from Cairo
- Date: 1st March 2011
- Summary: PROTESTERS CHANTING/HOLDING SIGNS, READING: "Egyptians are calling on the armed forces for help" AND "We want to go home."
- Embargoed: 16th March 2011 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Tunisia, Tunisia
- Country: Tunisia
- Topics: International Relations
- Reuters ID: LVA81UFC346UWKI9FKDIVMQ677W2
- Story Text: As thousands of Egyptian labourers escaping the turmoil in Libya continued to stream across the border into Tunisia on Monday (February 28), many who have been waiting for transit back to Egypt began protesting that they have been stranded for long enough.
The Tunisian military has set up a camp at the border town of Ras Jdir but the growing number has placed a huge strain on the country's capacity to cope with the sudden refugee crisis.
Protesters made placards and chanted that they wanted to go home, claiming that their new government is not doing enough to help them return.
Arrangements to transfer the people who had crossed the border on to planes and ships for their onward journeys home are still being worked out but their numbers are growing.
Over 50,000 have fled over the frontier in the past six days, and there was no sign of an end to the exodus of mostly poor working men looking for a way home.
Some reports - not officially confirmed - say well over one million Egyptians were working in Libya when Muammar Gaddafi lost the backing of much of the country. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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