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3 March 2011
Last updated at 06:42 ET
British flights have begun rescuing people who are stranded on the Libyan-Tunisian border and fleeing violence.
On Wednesday, a Thomas Cook plane and a Titan Airways charter picked up 406 adults and seven children from Djerba airport in Tunisia.
It comes as Foreign Secretary William Hague is due to hold talks over Libya and the Middle East with his French counterpart.
Meanwhile, UK charities are warning of a "potential humanitarian crisis".
Prime Minister David Cameron announced the evacuation flights in the House of Commons on Wednesday. He also said Department for International Development (DfID) teams had been sent to the border area.
Migrant workers The move came after United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon appealed for an international airlift to prevent a "humanitarian crisis" in makeshift camps where refugees are housed.
Between 80,000 and 90,000 people have fled to Tunisia since the unrest began, estimates the UN refugee agency UNHCR.
Over the coming days, it is expected the aircraft - and a third UK plane sent from Italy - will take up to 6,000 Egyptians to Cairo. Most of them are migrant workers who have been unable to return home.
France and Spain have also announced that they are sending planes to help with the airlift.
The Foreign Office said Mr Hague and the French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe would be discussing bilateral co-operation later.
The Tunisian government has also said it will provide more than 40 extra flights to transport 8,000 people.
Crisis warning Meanwhile, DfID has flown out 36,000 blankets and tents for 1,500 people in Tunisia.
Leader Col Muammar Gaddafi has said on TV he will "fight until the last man and woman" and has warned that thousands of Libyans will die if Western forces intervene.
David Bull, executive director of Unicef UK - which has launched a crisis children's appeal to raise £4.5m for women and children in Libya, Tunisia and Egypt - said the charity was expecting the number of refugees to climb into the hundreds of thousands if the unrest continued.
"Critical facilities such as clinics and hospitals are not open for a variety of reasons, food supply routes have been disrupted and Libyan children and their families are facing a potential humanitarian crisis," he said.
Save the Children has also warned that more than a million children in western Libya are in serious danger as government forces battle with protesters for control of key towns and cities.
On Wednesday, Mr Cameron also said that the Royal Navy Type 42 destroyer HMS York, currently in the rebel-held port of Benghazi in eastern Libya, would also be available to assist with the relief operation.
He also insisted the UK was right to be looking at plans for a no-fly zone over Libya.
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On Wednesday, a Thomas Cook plane and a Titan Airways charter picked up 406 adults and seven children from Djerba airport in Tunisia.
It comes as Foreign Secretary William Hague is due to hold talks over Libya and the Middle East with his French counterpart.
Meanwhile, UK charities are warning of a "potential humanitarian crisis".
Prime Minister David Cameron announced the evacuation flights in the House of Commons on Wednesday. He also said Department for International Development (DfID) teams had been sent to the border area.
Migrant workers The move came after United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon appealed for an international airlift to prevent a "humanitarian crisis" in makeshift camps where refugees are housed.
Between 80,000 and 90,000 people have fled to Tunisia since the unrest began, estimates the UN refugee agency UNHCR.
Over the coming days, it is expected the aircraft - and a third UK plane sent from Italy - will take up to 6,000 Egyptians to Cairo. Most of them are migrant workers who have been unable to return home.
France and Spain have also announced that they are sending planes to help with the airlift.
The Foreign Office said Mr Hague and the French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe would be discussing bilateral co-operation later.
The Tunisian government has also said it will provide more than 40 extra flights to transport 8,000 people.
Crisis warning Meanwhile, DfID has flown out 36,000 blankets and tents for 1,500 people in Tunisia.
Leader Col Muammar Gaddafi has said on TV he will "fight until the last man and woman" and has warned that thousands of Libyans will die if Western forces intervene.
David Bull, executive director of Unicef UK - which has launched a crisis children's appeal to raise £4.5m for women and children in Libya, Tunisia and Egypt - said the charity was expecting the number of refugees to climb into the hundreds of thousands if the unrest continued.
"Critical facilities such as clinics and hospitals are not open for a variety of reasons, food supply routes have been disrupted and Libyan children and their families are facing a potential humanitarian crisis," he said.
Save the Children has also warned that more than a million children in western Libya are in serious danger as government forces battle with protesters for control of key towns and cities.
On Wednesday, Mr Cameron also said that the Royal Navy Type 42 destroyer HMS York, currently in the rebel-held port of Benghazi in eastern Libya, would also be available to assist with the relief operation.
He also insisted the UK was right to be looking at plans for a no-fly zone over Libya.
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