A fresh batch of 130 African refugees and asylum-seekers who have been living in Libya’s detention centers will be evacuated to Rwanda Tuesday, an official source confirmed to APA in Kigali.This is part of the Rwandan government’s commitment to temporarily host Africans who are evacuated from the North African country, after being stranded in Libya.
Some evacuated refugees will be processed for resettlement to other countries, said the UN refugee agency, adding that others will be helped with alternative options, including returning to countries where they were previously granted asylum, returning home if they agree, or remaining as refugees in Rwanda.
Currently, 385 of them have been evacuated to Rwanda and of these, over 200 got resettled in other countries – mainly in Europe.
According to the UN agency, the new arrivals will be provided with accommodation, food and water as well as daily items at the transit center, adding that nine health professionals including a psychologist and a team of counsellors will help the evacuees with trauma caused in Libya.
The Rwandan government in September said it will “soon” receive 500 African refugees and asylum-seekers living in Libyan detention centers after the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to set up a transit mechanism for evacuating refugees and asylum-seekers out of Libya.
The MoU was signed by the Rwandan government, the UNHCR, and the African Union in Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia.
Libya has become a preferred departure point for illegal migrants hoping to cross the Mediterranean Sea into Europe due to insecurity and chaos in the North African country following the 2011 uprising that toppled former leader Muammar Gaddafi.
