Thousands of Tunisian expatriates have fled Libya in recent days, fleeing back across the border as the bloody repression of an uprising against Moamer Gaddafi's regime continues, DPA reported Wednesday according to Tunisian media.
A total of around 100,000 Tunisians are estimated to be living and working in Libya, which shares a border with Tunisia.
Tunisia's TAP agency reported that thousands had returned across the border through the Tunisian border point of Ras Jedir, about 150 kilometres from the Libyan capital Tripoli, since Sunday.
The government laid on buses to take them to their home towns from the nearby city of Gabes, TAP reported.
Over 1,000 more Tunisians have crossed back through the smaller border post of Dhiba, about 500 kilometres south of Tunis, while hundreds more have returned on regular or specially-organized Tunisair flights.
Many the returning migrants reportedly said their lives had been in danger in Libya.
At least one Tunisian has been shot dead in the city of Benghazi, according to the Tunis government.
On Monday Gaddafi's son, Saif al-Islam, accused Tunisians and Egyptians, who both toppled their leaders through protests over the past month, of fomenting the uprising in Libya.
In the meantime, Tunisia had stepped up security along its 280-kilometre-long border with Libya and begun preparing for a possible influx of refugees.
The transitional government of Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi has offered to treat injured Libyans in Tunisian hospitals and pledged humanitarian aid to the Libyan population.