For Libyans, the violent protests rocking the country are an exhilarating if terrifying turning point in their history. But for the hundreds of thousands of foreign workers, the strife is cause for a mad dash out of Libya. So far, nearly 200,000 people—from Egypt, Bangladesh, China, Sudan, and elsewhere—have fled the country, and more than half of them have gone through Ras Jedir, a small border crossing into Tunisia in the extreme northwest. The flight threatens to become a humanitarian crisis. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has set up a tent city, providing much-needed food and sanitation, and is working to arrange transportation for them. The international community has begun chipping in with planes to airlift refugees home. Still, more than 10,000 people are stranded, and with Muammar Gaddafi’s regime resisting calls to step down and digging in its heels, the morass at Ras Jedir may only get worse. Alex Majoli traveled to the Libya-Tunisia border on assignment for NEWSWEEK to document the camps and the frantic scramble to find a way out.