A third batch of 117 African refugees and asylum-seekers who have been living in Libya’s detention centers arrived late Sunday in Kigali from Libya where they were nd were transported to Gashora transit center in eastern Rwanda by bus, the UN Refugee Agency, confirmed Monday.
This third group was evacuated to Rwanda following another batch of 189 African migrants who had arrived in separate groups between September and October this year.
The refugees landed at Kigali International Airport at midnight local time. (22.00 GMT) and were then transported to Gashora transit center in eastern Rwanda by bus, the UN agency said.
All are part of the 500 refugees that Rwanda pledged to receive as part of the efforts to rescue the thousands that are languishing under gross human rights abuses in the North African country.
As part of integration process, all evacuees will be invited to attend language and vocational training classes to help them integrate with local communities during their time in Rwanda.
Further solutions will include voluntary return to countries where they had previously been granted asylum, return home if safe and voluntary, or integration into local Rwandan host communities, it said.
The UNHCR said it provided accommodation, food and water as well as daily items at the transit center, with currently nine health professionals including a psychologist and a team of counsellors will help the evacuees with trauma caused in Libya.
The arrival of new African migrants from Libya comes after the European Union (EU) Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development Neven Mimica has announced earlier this month a €10.3 million support package to the UNHCR’s Emergency Transit Mechanism (ETM) in Rwanda
According to a statement issued to APA earlier this month, the humanitarian package provides a life-saving avenue out of Libya for people in need of international protection, with a view to their further resettlement.
The funding is provided through the Emergency Trust Fund for Africa. This initiative builds on the example of the ETM Niger, through which more than 2,900 refugees and asylum seekers have been evacuated out of Libya since 2017, it said.
CU/abj/APA