By Libya Herald staff.
Tripoli, 9 October 2014:
Militiaman in control of Libya’s Ras Jedir border crossing with Tunisia are said to have . . .[restrict]been subjecting Libyans departing to Tunisia to up to 36-hour waits with limited access to food, water and adequate bathroom facilities.
The guards, members of the Libya Shield brigade, have reportedly given priority to their friends and those with the right “connections”, allowing them to pass through immediately, but are alleged to have threatened to shoot others who have tried to do the same.
Food and drinking water at the crossing is scarce and the barely-adequate toilets are a long hike from the queues, posing a significant challenge for the elderly and the disabled, and most likely the cause of the stench of urine and human waste in the area.
The Tunisian side of the crossing, by contrast, is clean, free of rubbish, and procedures are quick, although Libyans driving in are obliged to pay a car tax of 30 Tunisian dinars.
Since the beginning of the month, they, like all other foreigners, have to pay an exit tax of another 30 Tunisian dinars (LD 22) per person. In response, Libya has imposed a tax of LD 100 on Tunisians entering Libya. [/restrict]
