The advice page on the UK Border Agency website for Libyans in the UK has been updated so that is now a bit more acceptable. It previously advised Libyans whose visas were reaching an end to leave the UK ‘as soon as possible’. See previous post on this.

It now reads as follows:

You should keep proof of original travel plans as evidence of your intention to comply with your visa requirements. You should continue to monitor the situation regarding travel advice to Libya, and make arrangements to return as soon as it is safe to do so.

The advice still has some way to go before it reaches equivalence to the advice to stranded travellers at the time of the ash cloud. That was to the effect that travellers would not be penalised later for overstaying at that time. It would be more than a little unfair if victims of the ash cloud were given reassurance and exemption from later refusal on the general grounds but victims of what seems to be developing into a low level civil war were not.