Foreign Office tells Brits to leave Tunisia over ISIS attack fears

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ISIS gunman killed 38 people, including 30 Britons, in Sousse last month
Foreign Office said the Tunisian authorities could not keep tourists safe
Statement last night warned against 'all but essential travel' to the country
Families are being flown back to Britain today after warning was issued

By Tom Mctague, Deputy Political Editor and Richard Spillett for MailOnline and Jack Doyle Daily Mail Political Correspondent

Published: 12:17 EST, 9 July 2015 | Updated: 08:46 EST, 10 July 2015

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The first of thousands of tourists being evacuated from Tunisia are boarding flights today after warnings another ISIS attack is 'highly likely'.

The Foreign Office yesterday urged UK tourists to leave immediately and advised against all but essential travel to the country, where 38 holidaymakers were killed by a gunman two weeks ago.

Extra flights have been laid on to evacuate up to 3,000 British package holidaymakers and 300 independent travellers believed to be in the country. The first flight left this morning.

Scroll down for video

Tourists queue at Enfidha airport in Tunisia after being moved on to an extra flight home today

Holidaymakers were taken by bus from their hotels this morning ahead of extra flights laid on for them

Many holidaymakers packed their bags after the Foreign Office warned of further terror attacks

Brits in Tunisia discuss leaving following terror warning

Thomas Cook, which cancelled all future bookings to Tunisia up to October 31, said it is put on an extra flight today as it started flying home its 1,500 customers from the country. The rest will come home over the weekend.

The first of the evacuated holidaymakers will touch down in Manchester this lunchtime and London later in the afternoon, as funerals of some of the Britons killed in Sousse take place.

There has been confusion among some of those told to leave that German and French tourists, whose governments have different advice for travellers, are staying on in the resorts.

Some holidaymakers hit out at the Foreign Office for allowing them to fly to the country in the first place. Ruth Osborne, from High Wycombe, told Radio 4's Today programme the advice was 'two weeks too late'.

She and her friends are now due to fly back tomorrow, but are planning to spend the rest of their time inside their hotel.

She added: 'We feel totally safe in the hotel. I got up at 4:00am this morning and there were people out on the beach on a watchtower. There are police and armed guards surrounding the hotel and there have been all week.'

Long queues formed at check-in desks at Enfidha International airport, which is not far from Sousse

There was confusion amongst some tourists as to why visitors from other countries were not told to leave

British officials were on hand at Enfidha International airport after extra flights to Britain were laid on

Fellow-holidaymaker Myles Roberts said he would return to Tunisia once the travel advice changes.

He told Radio 4's World At One: 'There are nine security guards with machine guns around my hotel, there's a speed boat patrolling up and down with a machine gun on that too. I feel safer here than I ever have in London.'

In the airport today, many tourists said they felt sorry for the Tunisian hotel workers whose livelihoods would be hit by their departures, but they felt they had no choice but to leave.

Following the Government's warning, Thomson and First Choice immediately cancelled all flights to Tunisia for the summer season.

They added that 'as a precautionary measure we have taken the decision to repatriate all British Thomson and First Choice staff currently working in Tunisia within the next 24 hours'.

Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond today defended his decision to upgrade the threat level, insisting said the Government had been careful not to act in a 'knee-jerk manner' after the Sousse attack.

But, he said: '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.

'We have had to take the decision that it is too big a risk to continue allowing British tourists to travel in Tunisia.'

Some tourists have expressed anger at the Foreign Office for allowing them to travel there in recent weeks

Some said they felt sorry for the Tunisian people whose livelihoods stand to be destroyed by the terrorists

Philip Hammond advises British tourists to leave Tunisia

Mr Hammond said that the UK will continue to work with Tunisia on improving security and hoped to downgrade the travel advice 'in the not too distant future'.

All 30 Britons killed by Rezgui last month were either Thomson or First Choice customers, and, as a result, the companies have no guests in Tunisia at the moment.

Between 2,500-3,000 British tourists are believed to be in Tunisia and around 300 independent travellers.

The timing of the change could lead to questions over why tourists have been allowed to carry on travelling to Tunisia for two weeks since the attack.

Speaking after the announcement, British holidaymakers still in Tunisia expressed their worry and said that they hadn't been given any information directly, finding out about the change in security advice on the internet.

Michelle Ayres, who is staying at the Riadh Palms hotel in Sousse, told Channel 4 News: 'We haven't been told anything. Everything we have heard is only what we have read online. There's no rep here, so it is just literally all British people together discussing what we have all read on our own operators' websites.'

BRITISH HOLIDAY MAKERS 'DISAPPOINTED' BY TUNISIAN AIRLIFT PLAN

Heidi Barlow, pictured, criticised the decision to airlift British tourists out of Tunisia claiming the level of security in the area means that it is safe

A British holidaymaker in Tunisia has said she is 'disappointed' after the Foreign Office ordered travel companies to pull tourists out of the country.

Heidi Barlow, 34, arrived on Wednesday in Hammamet, a town of north of Sousse, with her mother Lesley, but now expects their 10-day holiday to be cut short.

The pair were informed of the warning by family and friends in the UK, before the information was confirmed by a Thomas Cook representative.

Ms Barlow, a marketing manager, said the news was a 'shock' for fellow British holidaymakers in Tunisia.

She said: 'We would actually be happy to stay in the current situation because we feel so safe. It's very quiet. And you can't imagine that anything could happen.

'People feel safe. They certainly didn't expect to have to leave.'

She added: 'On every single entrance to the hotels there's a guard. There's armed guards on the beaches. It's extremely secure and probably more secure than a lot of places you could go at the moment.'

According to Ms Barlow, just 40 guests are staying in the resort, which usually hosts up to 1,300 tourists, and described the atmosphere as 'quite eerie'.

Ms Barlow defended her decision to visit Tunisia, after booking the trip last week.

She said: 'In comparison to a lot of places in the world at the moment it's probably one of the safest places to go.'

But Ms Barlow said she respected the latest advice. She said: 'At the moment we are disappointed with the decision to remove British people from the country because we don't see any issues.

'Having said that, you never see an issue until it happens so we appreciate it is being done for security reasons.'

Families haul their suitcases onto an extra flight put on by Thomas Cook to evacuated tourists from Tunisia

Many said they had mixed feelings about leaving but felt they could not ignore the government advice

She added: 'Everyone's view, not just myself, is us Britons are at risk. Why put us all on the same buses to remove us from the hotel, surely that's a risk they don't want? We all feel perfectly safe within the hotel.'

As a result of the change in the Government's travel advice, tour operators Thomson and First Choice tonight cancelled all their outbound flights to Tunisia for the entire summer season which is up to and including October 31.

Anyone due to travel to Tunisia with the two companies this summer will be given the opportunity to amend their holiday free of charge or receive a full refund.

Thomas Cook has confirmed that it had cancelled all bookings to Tunisia up until October 31.

In a statement published on the Foreign Office 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'

TUNISIA HITS OUT AT GOVERNMENT POSITION AND VOWS 'REPERCUSSIONS'

Tunisian Prime Minister, Habib Essid

Tunisian Prime Minister Habib Essid (pictured right) is to speak to David Cameron today to respond to his government's advice that the North African nation is unsafe for holidays.

Essid told a late-night session of parliament that the guidance would 'have repercussions' for Britain..

'We will ring the British prime minister to tell him we have done everything we can to protect all British interests and those of others countries - that's our duty,' Essid said.

'Britain is free to take whatever decision it likes - it's a sovereign country - but we too are a sovereign country and we have a position to take.'

Tunisia has brought in a raft of new security measures, including arming tourist police, since a jihadist gunman killed 38 foreign holidaymakers.

Tunisia's ambassador to London, Nabil Ammar, accused Britain of giving in to the jihadists and playing into their hands.

'By damaging the tourism, by having foreigners leaving the country, they damage the whole sector and put so many people out of work and on the streets,' he said.

ISIS gunman Abu Yahya al-Qayrawani seen calmly walking on Sousse beach carrying the gun he used to murder 30 British tourists

Tears: Tourists visiting the beach at Sousse have been leaving their own tributes to the victims

Shocking footage shows full 11 minute ordeal of Sousse attack

Thirty eight foreign tourists were killed in last month's terror attack, including 30 Britons.

The Foreign Office warned that further terrorist attacks were likely to target tourist resorts and by 'individuals unknown to the authorities' inspired by terrorist groups on the internet.

It comes after the Tunisian government revealed plans to build a 100-mile wall along its border with Libya to stop ISIS terrorists crossing into the country.

The country's Prime Minister Habib Essid said the barrier would stretch inland from the Mediterranean coast which has become a new breeding ground for the Islamic State and other terror groups.

The gunman, Seifeddine Rezgui, is believed to have trained with the Ansar al-Sharia group in Libya along with jihadis who shot dead 22 people at a museum in the capital Tunis in March.

GOING ON HOLIDAY TO TUNISIA? HERE'S WHAT YOU SHOULD DO NOW

Are you due to travel to Tunisia on holiday in the next few days?

You will not be able to travel on your holiday as planned.

Contact your travel provider to discuss alternative arrangements.

Are you due to travel to Tunisia on holiday but not in the next few days?

Whilst the advice not to travel is in place travel companies will not send customers to Tunisia

Many travel companies already given their customers the option to amend bookings to Tunisia up until 31/10/15.

Are you booked on a package holiday to Tunisia?

If you are booked on a package holiday your travel company is obliged to offer you an alternative holiday, if they can, or a full refund.

They might also be able to offer the options of deferring your date of travel, or transferring to another destination, please note you will be liable for any increases in costs.

The Government last night released a statement claiming the Tunisian government had not done enough to protect British tourists and urged families still in the country to leave

How do you check if you're booked on a package holiday?

If you've booked flights and accommodation at an inclusive price with a tour operator, it will be a package. I

Have you booked a separate flight and hotel arrangement for your holiday to Tunisia?

If you booked separate arrangements for your holiday to Tunisia, you should contact both the airline and the travel company through which you booked your hotel arrangements.

You don't have an automatic right to a refund of the services.

Airlines will generally allow customers to defer dates of travel or transfer to another destination. However you may well be charged a cancellation fee for other services such as accommodation or car hire which may or may not be covered by your travel insurance.

Will you get a refund for your holiday?

If you've booked a package holiday your travel company must offer you an equivalent alternative holiday (if available) or a full refund of all money paid.

Will you get compensation if your holiday doesn't go ahead?

No, you won't be entitled to any additional compensation, as the reason for the holiday not continuing is outside the control of the tour operator.