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3 questions to Dr. Djawad Guerroudj, MdM, back from the Tunisian-Libyan border:

You come from an assessment mission to the Tunisian-Libyan border, what is the situation there?

Contrary to what I expected, we have not seen the by violence injured people at the border. It seems that the authorities do not let them leave the country and are receiving treatment at the site ... But I also think that the wounded are in no condition to travel and take the road between Tripoli and the Tunisian border which still very dangerous.

By cons, this border area is facing a very large flow of migrants. Each day last week, more than 8 to 10 000 people crossing the border and arriving in Tunisia, mainly migrant Egyptians, Tunisians to a lesser extent, working in Libya. In recent days, many Asian workers also fled the country and crossed the border. Regarding the situation inside the country, we still have very little information. The migrants arriving in Tunisia do not speak, they are stressed or afraid of not being able to return to Libya if they testify.

How are they supported? What are the needs?

For now, the needs are relatively well covered. Tunisians provide support for refugees, they opened large public spaces (schools, cultural centers and sports ...) to sleep in. At 5 km from the border is also a military camp in which they are passing before being repatriated to their country. My concern is more about sub-Saharan migrants (Niger, Mali ...) which are known to be very numerous in Libya and that we do not see passing by Tunisia. Moreover, the absence of psychological care of these people, when they saw horrible things, is rather worrying. But today, the transitperiod is short and does not seem to allow a psychological help.

In addition to the current political crisis, do you think that a humanitarian crisis is preparing for the Libyan border?

For the moment I do not think so, not on the border area. Many organizations are already present as the ICRC or UNHCR and put in place significant, (tents, food distribution and water ...). Solidarity and efforts of Tunisians (Red Crescent, army, NGOs, private initiatives ...) are very impressive. Furthermore, refugees are quickly taken care to be repatriated to their country. Many aircraft rotations are organized to Egypt and boats designed to recover the port of Zarzis. But the logistical challenge of repatriation of foreign nationals in their country is enormous. A Médecins du Monde, we are still extremely vigilant and alert. We wait, like many other organizations, to be able to enter the country to assess and respond to health needs.