* UN refugee agency sending staff, urgent supplies to region
* Appeals to neighbouring countries not to turn people away
* Italian politician says hopes no migrants come to Italy
(Recasts with fresh remarks by UNHCR, adds details, byline)
By Stephanie Nebehay
GENEVA, Feb 22 (Reuters) - The U.N. refugee agency is gearing up for a possible "significant exodus" from Libya and urged neighbouring countries in Europe and North Africa not to turn back people fleeing upheaval that has killed scores of people since last week, it said on Tuesday.
The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) was preparing to send emergency staff and aid supplies including tents and mobile hospitals to beef up its presence in Egypt and Tunisia, spokeswoman Sybella Wilkes told Reuters.
"So far we haven't seen a huge exodus. But we are very concerned on the basis of reports we are receiving of generalised violence and targeted violence and persecution, that we may well see a significant exodus out of Libya," she said.
UNHCR's office in Tunisia has reported that 4,500 people have crossed into Tunisia from Libya, she said. Most were Tunisian nationals but some 650 were of other nationalities, including Libyan and Algerian.
The agency is making contingency plans but is hampered by communication difficulties within Libya, Wilkes said.
"It is possible that people will be taking to boats to try to reach Europe. The most viable options are Tunisia, Egypt and to the north, by sea. We need to be flexible," Wilkes said.
"If there were an outflow from Libya, we could anticipate that a high proportion are fleeing for their lives, fleeing direct persecution," she added.
HUMANITARIAN SPIRIT
Earlier, UNHCR spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said Italy was among the countries most likely to receive an influx of people fleeing Libya, including nationals and refugees from elsewhere.
"We are saying, 'please, no pushbacks'," she told a news briefing in Geneva, where the UNHCR has its headquarters. "This is a time to show your humanitarian spirit and generosity towards people who are going through some severe trauma."
But the leader of Italy's anti-immigrant Northern League, a crucial ally of prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, said Libyan migrants arriving in Italy should be sent to other European countries.
"So far they haven't arrived and we hope they will not come. If they do come we will send them to Germany and France," Umberto Bossi told reporters.
Italy had signed a deal with Libya to curb the flow of illegal immigrants using the north African country as a departure point for southern Europe, and now fears Libya's turmoil will trigger an exodus towards its shores.
Italian naval forces backed by aircraft from several European allies have stepped up patrols in the central Mediterranean to detect and prevent illegal border crossings, the European Union border security agency said on Tuesday.
Some 8,000 refugees are registered with the UNHCR in Libya and another 3,000 asylum-seekers with cases pending, from Sudan, Iraq, Eritrea, Somalia, Chad and the Palestinian territories.
The UNHCR said it had received "alarming reports" that Libyans were turning on refugees from other African countries, suspecting them of being mercenaries fighting for the administration of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi.
"African refugees from Somalia, Ethiopia and Eritrea have told us that just being a black face in Libya is very dangerous at the moment," Wilkes said.
Libya shares borders with Egypt and Tunisia, which have both ousted long-time rulers since January, as well as Sudan, Chad, Niger and Algeria. Thousands of Tunisians have fled Libya this week, crossing its western land border. [ID:LDE71L10G]
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