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4 March 2011
Last updated at 03:20 ET
International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell has travelled to the Libyan-Tunisian border amid growing fears of a refugee crisis.
Thousands of people, mainly Egyptians, are stranded on the border after fleeing violence in Libya.
Mr Mitchell will view Britain's humanitarian effort on the ground.
More than 1,100 Egyptians have been flown from Djerba airport in Tunisia to Cairo by three UK-chartered planes over the last two days.
Further flights are expected to depart on Friday and the weekend - with the British government promising to take up to 6,000 Egyptians to Cairo. Most of them are migrant workers who have been unable to return home.
Prime Minister David Cameron announced the evacuation flights in the House of Commons on Wednesday. He said Department for International Development (DfID) teams had been sent to the border area.
DfID has also flown out 36,000 blankets and tents for 1,500 people in Tunisia.
Migrant workers The international evacuation effort 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.
France, Italy and Spain are also helping with the airlift, while Egypt and Tunisia have also provided extra flights to transport people.
Some 200,000 migrant workers have now fled Libya, into Egypt, Tunisia and Niger, the International Organization for Migration said.
Libyan 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.
Meanwhile, rebels in eastern Libya have said they will not negotiate unless Col Gaddafi quits and goes into exile. The National Libyan Council in the city of Benghazi also called for foreign intervention to stop government air strikes on the rebels.
Many UK charities have warned of a "potential humanitarian crisis".
David Bull, executive director of Unicef UK - which has launched a crisis 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.
Save the Children 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.
The World Food Programme also announced a $38.7m (£23.7m) emergency aid programme for 2.7m people caught up in the Libyan crisis.
Meanwhile, Downing Street has insisted that the Cabinet was "absolutely" in agreement over government policy on Libya, and the UK was not alone in looking at the possibility of a no-fly zone.
The prime minister's spokesman said the focus was on diplomatic and humanitarian efforts and the issue of the no-fly zone was part of "contingency planning".
The International Criminal Court has said it will investigate Col Gaddafi and his sons for crimes against humanity.
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Thousands of people, mainly Egyptians, are stranded on the border after fleeing violence in Libya.
Mr Mitchell will view Britain's humanitarian effort on the ground.
More than 1,100 Egyptians have been flown from Djerba airport in Tunisia to Cairo by three UK-chartered planes over the last two days.
Further flights are expected to depart on Friday and the weekend - with the British government promising to take up to 6,000 Egyptians to Cairo. Most of them are migrant workers who have been unable to return home.
Prime Minister David Cameron announced the evacuation flights in the House of Commons on Wednesday. He said Department for International Development (DfID) teams had been sent to the border area.
DfID has also flown out 36,000 blankets and tents for 1,500 people in Tunisia.
Migrant workers The international evacuation effort 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.
France, Italy and Spain are also helping with the airlift, while Egypt and Tunisia have also provided extra flights to transport people.
Some 200,000 migrant workers have now fled Libya, into Egypt, Tunisia and Niger, the International Organization for Migration said.
Libyan 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.
Meanwhile, rebels in eastern Libya have said they will not negotiate unless Col Gaddafi quits and goes into exile. The National Libyan Council in the city of Benghazi also called for foreign intervention to stop government air strikes on the rebels.
Many UK charities have warned of a "potential humanitarian crisis".
David Bull, executive director of Unicef UK - which has launched a crisis 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.
Save the Children 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.
The World Food Programme also announced a $38.7m (£23.7m) emergency aid programme for 2.7m people caught up in the Libyan crisis.
Meanwhile, Downing Street has insisted that the Cabinet was "absolutely" in agreement over government policy on Libya, and the UK was not alone in looking at the possibility of a no-fly zone.
The prime minister's spokesman said the focus was on diplomatic and humanitarian efforts and the issue of the no-fly zone was part of "contingency planning".
The International Criminal Court has said it will investigate Col Gaddafi and his sons for crimes against humanity.
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