174 asylum seekers from Libya evacuated to Niger by UNHCR

Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - A total of 174 asylum seekers have been evacuated from Libya to Niger, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) announced here Thursday.

The evacuation, which took place on Tuesday evening, was carried out via the Emergency Transit Mechanism (ETM), according to a tweet published on Wednesday by the UNHCR office, which said the refugees were met at Niamey airport by a team from the UN agency.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees also confirmed that nearly 4,000 people had been evacuated from Libya to Niger since the ETM mechanism was launched in November 2017.

UNHCR has evacuated 997 asylum seekers from Libya to Italy since 2017, while 8,372 people have left Libya on evacuation or resettlement journeys or via complementary routes within the same period.

The most recent operation conducted by the UNHCR was on 19 October last year, when 32 refugees, including children, were evacuated from Libya to Canada and Norway for resettlement.

-0- PANA BY/JSG/BBA/RA 3Nov2022