Fleeing a violent uprising
Tens of thousands of foreign workers from Egypt, Bangladesh, and Africa fled violence sparked by the Libyan uprising against Col. Muammar Qaddafi in late February 2011, crossing the Tunisia's border at Ras Jidir. Temporary camps appeared, while the refugees waited to be transported and Tunisian officials struggled to manage the precarious situation.
Refugees wait for their bus to depart for the airport near the Tunisian side of the Ras Jidir border crossing with Libya. Thousands of Egyptian, Bangladeshi and Sri Lankan migrant workers are stuck at the border as aid organizations and governments struggle to get them home via an airlift operation.
Bangladeshi migrant workers walk 10 km to a refugee camp near the Tunisian side of the Ras Jidir border crossing.
Foreign workers crowd up against the gate on the Libyan side of the border at Ras Jidir, Tunisia.
An Egyptian man covers his face while a soldier tries to calm another person at the Tunisia-Libya border. The refugees, primarily Egyptians, had to wait at the border or at an improvised camp until a bus could take them to the airport in Tunis, but the number of people waiting far exceeded the seats available on the buses.
Bangladeshi guest workers bundle themselves in blankets against the cold. Many refugees had been sleeping outside on the ground, in some cases for four or more days.
Refugees find temporary housing in a UNHCR tent camp near Ras Jidir. More than half of the 180,000 people estimated to have fled Libya have crossed into Tunisia.
The border crossing is bursting, with many more refugees entering Tunisia than can be moved to the temporary shelters provided at the camp
An Egyptian man looks out from a shelter made out of blankets and tree branches on the Tunisian side of the Ras Jidir border crossing.
Bangladeshi guest workers arrive at the UNHCR camp, about 10 km from the border crossing at Ras Jidir.
Bangladeshi guest workers walk 10 km to a refugee camp near Ras Jidir, Tunisia.
