The United Nations yesterday appealed to the UAE Government to help rescue people stranded on the Libyan borders.
The UN also asked the Government to increase humanitarian assistance to people affected by the Libyan crisis, days after the UAE and Turkey sent 700 tonnes of humanitarian assistance to Benghazi.
"We have sent an appeal to the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs to help evacuees on the Libyan border," said Brigitte Khair Mountain, the head of office and senior adviser at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
"There are 12,000 Bangladeshi nationals on the border, and each plane costs US$250,000 [Dh918,000] to take 300 people," she said.
She was speaking yesterday at International Humanitarian City in Dubai during a UN humanitarian update on the North African crisis .
Ms Mountain said the UN had also urged the Government to help her agency donate to the appeal to set up and manage more camps, as well as to help protect and register people at the border.
She said the UN also asked the Government to coordinate with the UN system and the international community.
UN organisations will soon also appeal to the private sector and the people of the Emirates to donate to the refugee effort.
UN Officials also expressed concern for the safety of the people in Libya.
Ten days ago, the United Nations and its partners launched a flash appeal seeking US$160 million from the international community to assist nearly 400,000 people fleeing Libya and about 600,000 people inside the country.
However, they have been able to raise only 48 per cent of the amount, which officials described as a "potentially deadly shortfall".
Since Libya acted as a "critical logistics corridor" to provide food and assistance to people in Sudan and Chad, officials said the impact of the crisis on neighbouring countries was far beyond what was happening in Libya.
