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Tunisian, UN officials stress swifter evacuation of refugees

01 June 2011 01:56 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Tunisian Defense Minister Abdelkarim Zbidi stressed Tuesday the importance of speeding the evacuation of refugees who were still living in the camps, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

Zbidi made the remarks during the meeting with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) commissioner for refugees in North Africa Yacoub El Hillo.

The meeting focused on the situation in the Choucha camp, two thirds of which was recently destroyed in clashes between African refugees and local population.

The two officials also discussed ways to better take care of the Libyan families who were living in southern Tunisia.

Zbidi called on the UN humanitarian associations to fulfill their obligations for the refugees by speeding up their evacuation towards the destination of their choosing.

He also stressed the need to support Tunisia in hosting Libyan refugees fleeing their country because of the deterioration of humanitarian situation there.

On his part, the UNHCR official said the UN humanitarian associations would continue their mission and improve their services in accordance with a concrete program in favor of a swift evacuation of the refugees.