British tourists are being advised to leave Tunisia immediately after intelligence warnings of further terrorist attacks and concerns that the local authorities are unable to provide adequate protection.
Tour operators are organising extra flights to bring back more than 3,000 UK tourists after the Foreign Office amended its travel advice to warn against all but essential travel to the country.
Thomas Cook, Thomson and First Choice announced they have cancelled outbound flights to Tunisia for the summer season, up to and including 31 October. Thomas Cook has chartered extra flights – in addition to its own 10 scheduled flights over the weekend – to repatriate its holidaymakers. Thomson and First Choice currently have no customers in Tunisia but will repatriate all their staff from the country within the next 24 hours.
Philip Hammond, the foreign secretary, told the BBC that the FCO travel advice had been amended amid fears that a further terrorist attack was highly likely. “While we do not have any information suggesting a specific or imminent threat, since the attack in Sousse the intelligence and threat picture has developed considerably, leading us to the view that a further terrorist attack is highly likely.
“The Tunisian investigation into those behind the Sousse attack, and that on the Bardo Museum earlier this year, is on-going and the Tunisians have made clear they want to track down further individuals who they suspect may have links to this attack.
“Furthermore, we have now completed an assessment of the security measures in tourist areas and while we are working with the Tunisian authorities to further strengthen those measures, we judge that more work is needed to effectively protect tourists from the terrorist threat.
“Taking all these factors together, we judge that it is right and prudent to make this change today.”
British officials hope that extra flights laid on by tour operators will mean the estimated 2,500 to 3,000 UK tourists on package holidays in the country will be flown home within the next two to three days. The Foreign Office is also reaching out to the estimated 300 British tourists travelling independently in Tunisia with advice for them to return home on scheduled flights or on the extra flights organised by the tour operators. There were 20,000 British tourists in Tunisia at the time of the gun attack in Sousse last month, which claimed the lives of 38 holidaymakers, of whom 30 were British.
The foreign secretary interrupted negotiations in Vienna on Iran’s nuclear programme on Thursday afternoon to telephone the Tunisian prime minister, Habib Essid, to inform him of what is being described as a serious upgrade of the UK’s travel advice. Essid warned on Wednesday of further attacks and Britain’s intelligence agencies are advising that such attacks are highly likely.
In a statement on its website, the FCO said the British authorities have been working closely with the Tunisian authorities since the Sousse gun attack. But the FCO said it feared a further attack and had concerns about security measures in place to protect tourists.
The travel advice says: “Since the attack in Sousse, we have been working closely with the Tunisian authorities to investigate the attack and the wider threat from terrorist groups in Tunisia. Although we have had good cooperation from the Tunisian government, including putting in place additional security measures, the intelligence and threat picture has developed considerably, reinforcing our view that a further terrorist attack is highly likely.
“On balance, we do not believe the mitigation measures in place provide adequate protection for British tourists in Tunisia at the present time and we have therefore changed our travel advice accordingly.”
The advice is against all but essential travel to the whole of the country, which means tourists should leave immediately and those with holidays booked should avoid Tunisia. The FCO said: “If you’re in Tunisia and you don’t have an essential need to remain you should leave by commercial means. Tour operators are arranging additional flights and will be organising departures for their customers. If you’re travelling with a tour operator, you should contact your tour operator’s representative in the first instance.
“If you’re travelling independently, you should make your own arrangements to leave. Commercial airlines are operating.”
Nikhil Patel, 18, from Luton, arrived in a seaside town to the south of the capital, Tunis, on Wednesday morning. He is staying in a hotel, along with a host of other British tourists, on a two-week holiday.
He said: “Everything is fine so far because the security is very high. I spend all day on the beach and you see police officers walking around with guns, keeping an eye on everything. Even the locals are on full alert.”
He said he had just seen the FCO advice on the news but he planned to stay until his travel firm advised him to leave. “I am making the most of it because I get the feeling we might be leaving.”
At the British embassy in Tunis, a spokesman said that fewer than 3,000 British tourists are in Tunisia, “the vast majority of them” on holidays organised by Thomas Cook.
The Imperial Marhaba hotel, scene of the attack last month, had as guests British visitors on packages booked with Tui’s Thomson and First Choice brands. These companies at present have no British customers in the country, the spokesman said.
The change to the travel advice comes as the UK authorities now have better access to intelligence gathered by the Tunisian security services, he added.
There has been a ramping up of security in Tunisia’s beach resorts over the past week. After criticism that security forces were slow to respond to the Sousse attack, troops and police have been employed throughout what is one of the country’s largest resorts.
Police road blocks stud the city with patrols of troops with machine guns cruising the highways in Humvee personnel carriers. On the beach outside the almost empty Imperial Marhaba hotel, police patrol on foot, horseback and by dune buggy, while the national guard has deployed a jet ski that cruises offshore.
But analysts say resorts remain vulnerable. “The UK embassy has been studying the response to Sousse attack and it appears it doesn’t have confidence that Tunisian government security measures will be enough,” said Tunis-based North Africa analyst Monica Marks. “Securing tourist sites is a herculean task and Sousse was the definition of a soft-target attack, a gunman targeting people on their sun beds.”
Tourism accounts for 14% of the country’s economy, employing 400,000 people, and the exodus of holidaymakers will be a blow in an already depressed economy. Habib Daguib, who rents out quad bikes on the beach outside the Marhaba said many fear for their jobs in a city reliant on the tourist industry. “One terrorist has killed all the country.”
Tunisia has already announced measures to combat extremism, saying it will close 80 unauthorised mosques and restrict flights abroad for the under 35s in an attempt to stem the flow of recruits to Isis. It has also confirmed its intention to construct a fence along the border with Libya, where it says many Tunisian extremists receive training.
But some think strikes on tourism centres are now established policy for militants, with the government itself well protected from attack. “It is a new strategy (by the terrorists), they want to strike to undermine the economy, to undermine the democratic process,” said French terrorism expert David Thomson.
The FCO said: “Further terrorist attacks are highly likely, including in tourist resorts, and by individuals unknown to the authorities whose actions may be inspired by terrorist groups via social media. You should be especially vigilant at this time and follow the advice of the Tunisian security authorities and your tour operator, if you have one.
“There is a high threat from terrorism in Tunisia. On 4 July the Tunisian government announced it was reinstating the state of emergency, lifted in 2014, as part of its continuing response to the recent terrorist attacks. On 8 July the Tunisian prime minister stated publicly that further attacks were likely. The Tunisian authorities have increased their security measures but have also acknowledged the limitations in their ability to counter the current terrorist threat.”
In its statement the FCO also advised against all travel to:
- The Chaambi Mountain national park area.
- The Tunisia-Algeria border crossing points at Ghardimaou, Hazoua and Sakiet Sidi Youssef.
- The militarised zone south of, but not including, the towns of El Borma and Dehiba.
- Within 5km of the Libya border area from north of Dehiba, up to but not including the Ras Ajdir border crossing.
It is understood that the Tunisian prime minister understood Britain’s decision to upgrade its travel advice. In his telephone conversation with Essid, Hammond praised Tunisia’s response to the Sousse attack, which involved a noticeable increase in security forces in popular tourist areas. But Britain believes that the Tunisian authorities have some way to go to provide security which would allow tourists to remain in the country in safety.
