NaijaRush: Tunisia travel alert: Thousands of Britons fly home

The first of thousands of British holidaymakers have returned home from Tunisia after a warning that another terror attack is "highly likely".

Thirty Britons were killed in the gun attack at a beach near Sousse last month - and the Foreign Office has now urged Britons to leave.
The move drew criticism from tourists - and from Tunisia, which said it had done all it could to protect people.
But the UK foreign secretary said it was "too big a risk" not to act.
Philip Hammond said the UK hoped to downgrade its travel guidance "in the not too distant future".
Ireland, where three of the victims were from, has also warned against "all non-essential travel" to the country. Denmark followed suit but Germany and France have not altered their advice.

'In tears'

Between 2,500 and 3,000 British package holidaymakers are believed to be in Tunisia, as well as about 500 independent travellers.
The Association of British Travel Agents (Abta) said its members were aiming to bring customers home in the next 48 hours.
The first British tourists arrived at Manchester Airport shortly after 13:00 BST, with some criticising the government's handling of the situation.

Media caption Tourist Michelle Ayres: "Something has obviously changed"

Tracey Caburn, from Pontefract, said: "We didn't feel threatened at all. There were guards on the roof, the gates, the beach. We wanted to stay. If they were going to bring us home so quickly they should not have let us fly out in the first place."
Craig Lewis, from Oldbury in the West Midlands, said: "I got out there yesterday, just getting settled, and it's time to come home.
"It's disappointing but for the British government to say there's going to be another terrorist event, it is best to come home."
Les Aston, from Shrewsbury, said: "It's just not fair. I feel very disappointed. They let us go out there and now we've been brought back home. It makes no sense.
"The staff were in tears when we left the hotel. Tourism in Tunisia will be ruined."
'Confused and angry': British tourists return home

'Emerging threat'

The UK government had stressed there was no new "specific or imminent" threat, but intelligence had led officials to the view that a further attack was "highly likely".
Mr Hammond said the government had been careful not to act in a "knee-jerk manner".
"We now have a much better picture of the emerging scale of the threat as well as a much better understanding of the mitigations the Tunisians have put in place," he said.
Mr Hammond said Tunisian authorities were continuing to hunt individuals suspected of having links to the Sousse attack and an attack in March on the Bardo Museum near Tunis, which left 22 dead, including one Briton.

Media caption Tunisian ambassador to the UK Nabil Ammar: "One source of terrorism is a lack of hope"

The Tunisian prime minister said the country had done "everything we can to protect (British) citizens and their interests, as well as those of all other countries".
Habib Essid said the government would help people leave, but he planned to speak to his British counterpart David Cameron about the change in travel advice.
Nabil Ammar, the Tunisian ambassador to the UK, said the move played into the hands of extremists, adding: "This is what the terrorists want."

One Whitehall official told the BBC it was a "very tough decision" and the government was "working hard with the Tunisians to get to a point in the future where we can reverse this decision".
Abta said those due to travel to Tunisia should contact the company they had booked through.
Travelling to the country now would be likely to invalidate travel insurance policies, though most policies would provide cover for those already in the country, it added.

How will this affect my summer getaway?

Kevin Peachey, personal finance reporter
Many families will have booked to travel to Tunisia during the school summer holidays. Most should be able to go elsewhere without losing out financially, or get their money back.
Travellers on package deals must be offered an alternative or a full refund by their travel company, for as long as Foreign Office advice suggests no travel to Tunisia.
Those who have booked flights and accommodation separately should find that airlines will offer to reschedule flights.
Tunisia holiday booked - what are your options now?
Q&A for holidaymakers from Abta.

BBC North Africa correspondent Rana Jawad said there was "disbelief and devastation" among hotel workers, who now fear they could lose their jobs as the tourism industry falters.
Ruth Osborne, from High Wycombe, said there were just 34 guests in her hotel but "there should be 800".
"We now have the army outside our hotel; the port is surrounded," she said.
Foreign tourism accounts for about 15% of Tunisian GDP and European Union foreign ministers are to discuss support for the country at a meeting next week.

Tunisia tourism

• Total number of tourists for 2012: 6 million
• Top five nationalities by nights stayed in Tunisian hotels by non-residents (2012 - latest figures available):
• French: 23%
• German: 18%
• Italian: 12%
• Belgian: 6%
• British: 5%

Source: Tunisian national institute of statistics

Tour operator Thomson and First Choice said it had no customers in Tunisia but was repatriating all British staff.
It had already cancelled all flights to the country to the end of the summer season (31 October) and said customers could change their holiday free of charge to any destination on sale.
It is also offering additional flights to destinations including the Balearic Islands, Spain and Cyprus.
Thomas Cook, which has cancelled all bookings to Tunisia until 31 October, has two extra flights bringing customers back to the UK.
And a spokesman added customers would be flown back "as soon as we can using third-party carriers and on our 10 scheduled flights over the weekend".
Monarch Airlines said it was arranging to repatriate all customers in resorts back to the UK "as soon as possible".