Tunis — National Defence Minister Abdelkarim Zbidi conferred here on Wednesday afternoon with UN high Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Gutterres and Director General of the International Organization for Migration William Lacy Swing about the humanitarian situation in the border post of Ras Jedir in light of the flow of refugees from Libya.

The Minister said that the region of Ras Jedir had hosted so far more than 113 000 refugees including 22 000 who are still stranded at Tunisian-Libyan borders, stressing that these refugees had been provided with the best conditions of reception and guidance by the army, volunteer citizens, activists of the civil society and several NGOs.

The current situation requires, he noted, vigilance and mobilization to host more refugees in light of the latest developments in Libya. The UN officials hailed the national army's sustained efforts and good management of the humanitarian crisis on the Tunisian-Libyan borders, commending the generosity and solidarity of Tunisia's people.

"Tunisia sets the example in matters of solidarity. The free will of the people combined with the efforts of official authorities have allowed to overcome this exceptional situation" they affirmed.

Gutterres and Swing paid tribute as well to Tunisia's initiative to open up its borders with Libya for refugees in spite of the situation the country is living through, expressing the readiness of UNHCR and IOM to increase cooperation with Tunisia in these difficult circumstances.