The first batch of 75 African refugees and asylum seekers from Libya will arrive in Kigali Thursday evening, an official source confirmed to APA in Kigali.
A senior official in the Rwanda’s Ministry in charge of Emergency Management said all asylum seekers will arrive aboard a chartered plane, and will touch down at Kigali International Airport on Thursday evening.
“On arrival, the refugees will be hosted at an emergency lakeside transit facility, Gashora Transit Centre, located in Bugesera District, outside the City of Kigali,” Olivier Kayumba, the Permanent Secretary in the ministry said.
Reports indicate that the evacuation will be done on voluntary basis with persons eligible to benefit from the centre include refugees recognised by UNHCR Libya, asylum-seekers registered with UNHCR Libya, children and youth at risk registered as refugees, as well as spouses and children of asylum-seekers and refugees.
Rwanda, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), and the African Union (AU) have signed earlier this month a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to set up a transit mechanism for evacuating refugees and asylum seekers out of Libya.
According to the agreement, Rwanda will receive and provide protection to refugees and asylum-seekers, as well as others identified as particularly vulnerable and at-risk, who are currently being held in detention centres in Libya, and they will be transferred to safety in Rwanda on a voluntary basis.
In 2017, the Rwandan government made the commitment following damning revelations that tens of thousands of people from across Africa were not only stranded in Libya after their failed bid to reach Europe but many of them were being subjected to slavery.
Estimates by the United Nations indicate that almost 5,000 migrants are in detention in Libya, about 70 percent of whom are refugees and asylum seekers, with most of them having been subjected to different forms of abuse.
Thousands of migrants are being held in government-run detention centres in Libya, according to humanitarian agencies in the North Africa region.
Scores have died over the past few years while trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea to European countries in hope for better lives.
Rwanda is now working with the African Union (AU), the Libyan government and other partners on the planned relocation of African migrants stranded in the North African country amid reports that the first batch of 500 is set to arrive.
CU/as/APA