Tunisia refugee camps lack food, medical care

Thousands of Libyans who fled across the Tunisian border are living in camps with inadequate food supplies and medical care, a local aid organiser said on Saturday. Abdelbasset Belhassan, a local aid coordinator, was also quoted in the press reporting a lack of hygiene and "security problems" in the southern provinces of Tataouine, Medenine and Kebili which border battle-torn Libya. "These deficiencies are currently causing lots of problems for people in the south and require the intervention of the government and state institutions," said Belhassan, who is also president of the Arab Institute for Human Rights. The official, who has newly returned from a mission, said interim Prime Minister Beji Caid Essebsi had underlined the government's commitment to finding "urgent solutions" and hailed the south's "considerable efforts" in helping Libyan refugees fleeing the conflict. Belhassan said he had outlined the situation in a report presented to the prime minister on Friday. The south experienced an acute shortage of fuel at the beginning of August due to a refinery strike combined with the effect of large numbers of refugees returning home for Ramadan. About 55,000 refugees are expected to receive food parcels in Tunisia during Ramadan following an initiative by the World Food Programme (WFP), the Red Cross and several other aid organisations. Once a week families will receive two parcels containing oil, rice, cheese and other foodstuffs, WFP official Rym Nada told AFP. The month of Ramadan began on Monday in Tunisia, which has taken in 70,000 refugees since the beginning of the Libyan conflict on February 17.