Shousha refugees demand resettlement

Over 3000 African refugees are stuck in the Tunisian camp of Shousha four months after the Libyan revolution saw thousands fleeing the violence sweeping the country. About 3200 refugees in the camp are demanding to be resettled away from their original countries, many rife with starvation and civil wars. Conditions in the camp, which is on the border with Libya, are steadily worsening on the back of a strong cold snap in Tunisia. Refugees are also complaining of what they describe as a "lack of seriousness" in dealing with their cases from the UNHCR, accusing it of nationalistic bias. Kamal Darwish, the official representative of the UNHCR in Tunisia, told Arabstoday that the commissioner "had already resettled 700 refugees". He emphasised that the commissioner was dealing with the cases impartially. Darwish stated that the commissioner was "not responsible for making decisions about expulsion or resettlement for any case, as the receiving countries are dealing with every case due to country-specific laws". "The commissioner considered most cases except 5 per cent of them which didn't meet UNHCR requirements...the UNHCR can't put a deadline for all the cases to be resettled," he said. On March 1, the UNHCR had sent 27 refugees from the camp to be resettled in Norway. It is expected that the refugee situation will be the prime focus of talks between Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki and the UNHCR High Commissioner Antonio Guiteras who is due to visit Tunisia next Monday.