Poor countries bordering Libya, Ivory Coast and Somalia have taken in hundreds of thousands of people fleeing conflicts, a refreshing attitude in a world often marked by xenophobia, the U.N. refugee boss said on Tuesday.
U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres also paid tribute to Italy and Malta for sheltering economic migrants and refugees leaving Libya aboard rickety boats and urged other European countries to share the burden.
He was speaking upon return from whirlwind tours that took him to Liberia, Egypt, Tunisia and Kenya in less than a month as his agency struggles to cope with dramatic refugee crises.
"In Liberia, and in Egypt and Tunisia, I have seen people opening not only the border, but opening their hearts and their pockets in a way that I think is a lesson in today's world where we see so many demonstrations of populism, xenophobia and rejection of foreigners," Guterres told a news briefing.
"They show that in today's world there is still a number of very generous countries that go on keeping their borders open with massive inflows of people in need of protection," he said.
This was "heartening" for the former prime minister of Portugal who took up the U.N. post in June 2005. He could not recall a period of such "enormous pressure" on the UNHCR.
More than 439,000 people fleeing fighting between government forces and rebels in Libya have crossed mainly into Tunisia and Egypt, two countries grappling with their own democratic transitions and huge economic challenges, he said.
Many were Tunisian or Egyptian workers, or migrants from Asia and sub-Saharan Africa who have been evacuated since, but Libyans were also welcomed, he said. Some 6,000 people still cross into the two countries each day.
"I was particularly impressed at the Tunisian border to see the communities around one of the poorest areas of Tunisia coming into the camps, bringing food, blankets, all kinds of items to support the displaced from Libya with a very generous and open-minded attitude," Guterres said.
Angelina Jolie, an American actress who serves as UNHCR goodwill ambassador, visited the Libyan-Tunisian border area on Tuesday, appealing for international support.
Post-election violence in Ivory Coast, where incumbent president Laurent Gbagbo was said to be negotiating his departure from power on Tuesday, has also driven an exodus from the world's top cocoa producer.
More than 125,000 Ivorians have fled to Liberia, while 7,000 have crossed into Ghana, 1,700 into Togo, and about 1,000 into Guinea, according to the UNHCR.
Guterres voiced concern that the political conflict had generated "new ethnic tensions" in Ivory Coast that might also spill into Liberia. Liberia had emerged from its own civil war with a successful transition and robust peace-building programme ahead of elections scheduled later this year.
"We hope that the conflict ends quickly so the effects are contained because a prolonged conflict could have a major destabilising effect on West Africa," he said.
Guterres just returned from Kenya, where on Monday he visited the world's largest refugee camp, Dadaab, which holds 332,000 refugees, mostly from Somalia.
Source: www.trust.org
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