KIGALI, Rwanda
A hundred more asylum seekers arrived in Rwanda from Libya on Tuesday evening, joining 843 others awaiting resettlement.
This is the eighth flight of
evacuees to Rwanda, and the first this year, since the Emergency Transit Mechanism began in September 2019.
Most asylum seekers are from
Eritrea, Sudan, South Sudan, and Somalia. Some had been living in the Libyan
capital Tripoli, while others had been arbitrarily held in detention, some for
several months.
The 100 evacuees will join 269
refugees and asylum seekers currently hosted at the transit centre in Gashora,
Bugesera, as they await resettlement to third countries, return to countries of
origin, or residence in Rwanda, among other options.
According to the UN refugees
agency, UNHCR, more than 620 asylum seekers have been resettled in third
countries since 2019.
This is the second flight of
evacuees received since Rwanda, the African Union, and UNHCR signed an addendum
to the memorandum of understanding (MoU) of the Emergency Transit Mechanism
(ETM) in November. It extended the operation of the Gashora-based transit
centre to accommodate refugees, asylum seekers and other vulnerable people at
risk in Libya until December 31, 2023.
Covid-19 travel restrictions
hampered the resettlement exercise, which resumed in 2021 with two flights.
At the Gashora transit centre,
asylum seekers and refugees receive shelter, food, medical care, psycho-social
support for vulnerable cases, activities for children, and language courses.
The African Union also mobilises resources and provides strategic political
support with training and coordination.
Parties also agreed to expand
the capacity of the transit facility from the initial capacity of 500 persons
to accommodate 700 people. Last year, UNHCR estimated that some 1,680 persons
of concern are still trapped inside detention centres across Libya and urgently
need to be evacuated to safety. With this latest evacuation, 8,143 vulnerable
refugees and asylum seekers have been taken out of Libya to safer countries
since 2017.
Last year also saw Rwanda sign
another deal with Denmark regarding cooperation on asylum and migration issues,
enabling Rwanda to host asylum seekers from the European country that hosts
thousands of Syrian refugees. Rwanda has struck the same deal before with
Israel and could see scores of African refugees and asylum seekers were taken
to Rwanda.
Other countries taking in
asylum seekers under the mechanism are France, Norway, Sweden, Canada, and
Belgium. have been taking in some of the asylum seekers, but UNHCR continues to
call upon other countries to come forward and resettle the remaining asylum seekers.
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