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Photo Gallery Tunisia's Tented Transit Camp

UNHCR/ A.Branthwaite

A new camp full of UNHCR tents, has sprung up close to Tunisia's border with Libya to provide shelter to thousands of migrant workers desperate to get hope. The UNHCR-run facility is already full, with 15,000 people from around Africa and Asia who have fled from Libya.

Most of the new arrivals are penniless and have no hope of making it home on their own. Many of the sub-Saharan Africans arriving at the camp say they fled because of threats and abuse, with some being attacked and robbed in their homes as well as at the checkpoints that have sprung up along many roads in Libya.  Non-African arrivals also report having their belongings taken at the checkpoints, but say they have not been the victims of racism and threats.

With people continuing to arrive daily, UNHCR and other agencies are bracing themselves for what could be a large-scale humanitarian disaster if the fighting worsens and if large numbers of Libyans try to flee their country.

The new Choucha transit camp near the Tunisian town Ras Adjir, on the border with Libya. A Somali mother plays with her child in a tent in the Choucha camp. Many Somalis in the camp said gangs and the military were being violent with sub-Saharan Africans inside Libya.Fuad, a Somali, with his wife and infant son. They fled to Choucha camp three days after being attacked and threatened in their home in the Libyan capital, Tripoli. The new Choucha camp is full to capacity but people keep arriving. Amina fled Tripoli with her son and husband after gangs looted their house and threatened them with violence.A Somali child plays in a tent in the UNHCR-run Choucha transit camp on the Libyan-Tunisian border.A sea of tents in the UNHCR-run Choucha camp." For 20 days we had no food. Everything shut down," said Faruk, a 31-year-old Bangladeshi construction worker, describing life in Libya before he could flee.Men wash using water from buckets in the camp near the Tunisian border with Libya.A moment of repose for a stranded migrant at Choucha camp. Frank, a Ghanaian stonemason, described his flight from Libya: "The place is dangerous. There is no food; we had to stay in the house for two weeks. Everything was taken from us, our mobile phones, TV, DVD. They even took my toothbrush. Since we have arrived in Tunisia, the UN has helped us with food, shelter, everything." Men queue for food in Choucha camp near the border.