Evacuees check in at Kigali International Airport.
The 14th group of 134 refugees and asylum seekers evacuated from Libya arrived safely arrived in Rwanda following their evacuation from the North African country where they were caught in life threatening situations.
According to the the Ministry in charge of Emergency Management (MINEMA), the latest batch of evacuees consists of 64 from Eritrea, 35 from Sudan, 15 from Somalia,17 from Ethiopia, 2 from Cameroon and 1 from Mali 1.
“They will be accommodated in Gashora Transit Center, that hosts other evacuees who arrived before. The Government of Rwanda, UNHCR, and the African Union set up an Emergency Transit Mechanism (ETM) to provide lifesaving protection, assistance, and long-term solutions to vulnerable refugees and asylum seekers trapped in Libya through a temporary evacuation to Rwanda,” the Ministry said.
The first batch of refugees arrived in Rwanda in September 2019, following the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, the Africa Union and the Government of Rwanda to temporarily host the refugees who were rescued from detention centres in conflict-ridden Libya.
So far at least 1,600 have been evacuated, many of who UNHCR has been able to find countries to take them in as part of the emergency transit mechanism. The initiative has been hailed for saving lives hundreds of women, children and men whose lives were in peril in their attempt to cross over to Europe in search for a better life.
