The UN humanitarian agency has warned of a "crisis" on the Tunisian border as up to 12,000 people a day flee the violence in Libya.
There is an increasing large field of tents here. Yesterday, there were about 500 and now there are about 1,500 - enough for about 12,000 people.
Officials have been trying to process people, many of them foreign workers attempting to return home from Libya, as quickly as possible and get them to airports or ports.
However, the exodus is a massive logistical problem and there are fears the situation will only get worse as some of the reported 40,000 on the Libyan side of the border cross into Tunisia.
"With thousands of migrants still awaiting authorisation to enter Tunisia, there is an urgent need to decongest the border area which lacks adequate facilities to host large numbers of people," said Marc Petzold of the International Organisation for Migration.
UNHCR spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said some waiting at the border to cross had been in the queue for as long as three days and that sub-Saharan Africans were in particular not being allowed into Tunisia.
"All borders, land, air and sea should be opened in a non-discriminatory manner. Anyone who needs to flee should be able to flee," she said.
Two more UN airlifts are planned to bring in tents and supplies for 10,000 more people on Thursday but water supplies are precarious, officials have warned.
In Egypt, authorities said 69,000 people had entered the country from Libya in the past 10 days, most of them Egyptians who have already been taken to other towns and cities.
Countries have started to commit resources to assist the refugees.
HMS York is heading to Benghazi to deliver aid and collect any remaining British citizens who wish to leave the country.
Australia has promised £3.1m to the relief fund and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has agreed to send humanitarian assistance for about 10,000 people.
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