Rising to the Task

If you had asked me a year ago to make a list of things that were least likely to happen in Tunisia, at the top of the list would have been revolution and not far behind would have been refugee crisis. In the last few months we have experienced both. It is safe to say that the Tunisia we live in today is a much different place than it was a year ago.

Although events have been surprising, I am not surprised at all by the way the Tunisian people have been responding to these events. Tunisians have demonstrated time after time their generous nature and hospitality and it has brought out in them their best. This is particularly evident in the outpouring of love and support that they have given to those fleeing the fighting in Libya.

I wrote previously about the first wave of refugees that came across the border creating a severe situation and a logistical crisis. This first wave was made up of expatriate workers in Libya from countries such as Egypt, Vietnam and Bangladesh. About 80,000 came across the border during this wave, and even though the international community worked hard to repatriate them there were as many as 20,000 in the refugee camps at one time.

The first to respond was the Tunisian military. Soldiers set up tents and feeding stations long before the UN refugee response team was able to be on site. By in large these soldiers treated people with respect and with compassion and have remained there until today. The military demonstrated not only respect and compassion but a surprising amount of organization and efficiency. Throughout the events of the last few months the previously overlooked and marginalized Tunisian Military has emerged as heroes of the revolution, and they have been universally commended for their competence. The military’s behavior with the refugees, with very few exceptions, has been worthy of their reputation.

When the word got out across Tunisia that people were amassing in camps at their border innumerable ad hoc groups of people were formed collecting food and supplies. Car loads and van loads and trucks came pouring into the camps, one after another, unloading food, milk, water blankets before returning to pick up more. The outpouring was phenomenal almost unbelievable. Time and again I witnessed groups of men, from small villages 6, 8, 10 hours away, drive into the camp with vans packed with goods and bearing large signs that read, “Sons of the revolution.” They would jump out of the van with massive smiles on their face, quickly unload their cargo, take a few pictures, jump back in their van and say, “See you in a couple of days.”

The second wave of refugees was primarily undocumented immigrants. This group was largely made up of people from West Africa, Sudan, Somalia and Eritrea. Repatriating the second wave was much more difficult because most from this group did not have passports and many of them didn’t want to return to their home country. There are several thousand from this second wave still in camps at the border now, and there is little hope that these numbers will diminish any time soon. It is likely that Tunisia will be faced with a refugee situation for at least another year – a burden which could challenge and test any society, but I suspect Tunisians will rise to the occasion with the same veracity and competence that I have come to expect.

The third wave of refugees has just started. They are Libyans and mostly Berbers. The last we heard about 40,000 have crossed the border and most of them are being hosted by Tunisian families. It is yet another opportunity for Tunisians to step up to the task, but that is not the only opportunity that I see – more to come…