176 refugees evacuated from Libya to Rwanda by UNHCR

Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - A total of 176 vulnerable asylum seekers were evacuated from Libya on Friday on a humanitarian flight to Rwanda, chartered by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which said it was the second such flight to Rwanda this year using the Emergency Transit Mechanism (ETM).

The previous flight was in July.

A UNHCR statement said that "the evacuees include men, women and children, several young babies from Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan and South Sudan," adding that "many are victims of trafficking or survivors of gender-based violence and other forms of abuse, and several have just been released from detention centres.

"We are very pleased to have been able to evacuate so many people today, especially the very young, who now have the chance to grow up safely and live a full and dignified life.

"We also appreciate the cooperation of the Libyan authorities in facilitating this flight," Jean-Paul Cavalieri, UNHCR's head of mission for Libya, was quoted in the statement as saying.

In Rwanda, the asylum-seekers will stay at the emergency transit centre based in Gashora, where UNHCR will provide them with accommodation, food, water, medical care, psychosocial support and life-skills training, the UNHCR said.

UNHCR aims to help them find durable solutions such as resettlement in third countries, voluntary return where possible or local integration in Rwanda, it said.

"It is a relief to see more people evacuated to safety in Rwanda. We commend the country's leaders and our supporters for their generous support of efforts to revive the hope of the evacuees," said Ahmed Baba Fall, UNHCR's representative in Rwanda.

A total of 824 refugees and asylum seekers have so far been evacuated from Libya to Rwanda under the emergency transit mechanism since 2019.

UNHCR said it was grateful for the resettlement pledges made available to the ETM by third countries as well as for the financial contributions from Austria, Denmark, the European Union, France, Malta, Norway and Switzerland.

UNHCR was able to resume humanitarian flights from Libya in November after being blocked for most of the year.

Since 2017, some 7,490 refugees and asylum-seekers have left Libya in humanitarian evacuations or resettlements to third countries.

-0- PANA BY/IS/BBA/VAO 10Dec2021