Tented transit camps are being set up hurriedly on the Tunisian side, while frantic efforts are being made to charter aircraft and ships to repatriate the stranded.

BBC: Libya unrest: Aid crisis grows on Tunisia border

Once Osama Bin Laden moved from Sudan to Afghanistan and established terrorist training camps there, Iran facilitated the transit of jihadists to al-Qaeda training camps via Iran.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Iranian entanglements

This useful term was introduced in the 1970s by the Dutch artist Armando, who grew up near Kamp Amersfoort, used during the Second World War as a transit camp for prisoners being sent off to concentration camps.

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