stories are some of the most painful that we have heard since we have been here. many of them say about eight days ago, having not been paid by the companies they work for in labia for about two months, they just started fearing for their lives, so they started walking for the tunisian border, and on the way they were robbed of their mobile phones and any money they still had by the libyan police. they got to the border three days ago and were literally left there. their governments have given them absolutely no help at all. so those here, the aid staff and the tunisian army are trying to do something for them. they walked the three miles which i guess is nothing given where they have come from of late and now they re being set up here. they re quite optimistic. many with smiles on their faces because they say at this point, they want to go home. there have been a couple of flights that have left to dubai
tell them now i m alive. reporter: you re alive? yes. reporter: to save him time, we lent him our phone. okay. reporter: the phone link is vital because for these people it is by no means certain how long they ve still got to wait to get back home. alex thompson, channel 4 news on the libyan/tunisian border. there are so many tents in one border town it can be seen from satellite in space. there is a town in tunisia not far from libya. there is an urgent need for food, water and sanitation for all the people flooding across the borders into tunisia and egypt. you are watching world one. in china there is an emphasis on keeping a lid dissent.
government, of course. they re not able to do much for them. the international community hoping they will be able to get these guys out as soon as possible. they are a bit more optimistic but a long way from home. carol, you allude to what is going on there on the other side of the border, and we re hearing the same thing. there are real concerns that pro gadhafi forces are now pushing up towards the libyan border. let s consider what we have seen over the past few days. at one point, about 72 hours ago, there were as many as 1,000 people coming over this libyan/tunisian border an hour and suddenly it seemed to stop completely, and the concerns from the aid agencies and the tunisian army is that people are being prevented from getting up to this border, and that is where this talk of the pro gadhafi supporters comes in, the idea that they re pushing up here and preventing guys from getting to the border is a really, really bad one.
the cluster of white dots shows a sprawling tent city on the border with thousands of refugees stung there. beckry anderson is there. she is on the tunisian side, is that right reporter: that s right. we are three miles down from the border at exactly what you have been looking at on that satellite image. as far as the eye can see behind me, a sea of tents, an emergency tented camp, set up by the u.n. there are about 20,000 refugees on this side of the libyan border, and the majority of those today here at the tent are bangladeshis. more than 40,000 egyptians who have been served through this tented accommodation and thankfully for them have been evacuated out of the airport about 100 miles away from here, so today what the u.n. are focusing on is the plight of 10,000 bangladeshis, and their
council. this is the first time that either the human rights council or its predecessor, the human rights commission, have suspended any member state for gross violations of human rights. susan rice, the u.n. is issuing an urgent call for help to head off a looming humanitarian crisis at the libya libyan-tunisian border. they re both overwhelmed as tens of thousands are fleeing the violence. if there s a liberation war in libya, muammar gadhafi is on that. he arranged a food shipment to benghazi. today this, is what the government wants us to see an aid convoy setting off, as they say, to rebel territory in the east. benghazi, 1200 kilometers about 800 miles away.