The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) announced that more than 300 internally displaced families in the south of Libya have received non-food items.
In a tweet, the UN body added that this was conducted with UNHCR partners, the Libyan Humanitarian Relief Agency-LIBAID.
The distributions took place in Ubari (977 km south of Tripoli) and Traghen (912 km south of Tripoli).
On Thursday, the European Union offered additional €22 million euros to help refugees and asylum seekers deported from Libya, and now hosted in Rwanda.
The refugees, mainly from the Horn of Africa, whose hopes to cross the Mediterranean sea from Libya to Europe were cut short, are sheltered at the Emergency Transit Mechanism (ETM) center in Gashora, Bugesera District.
The center was set up as a result of a tripartite agreement signed between the government of Rwanda, the African Union, and UNHCR. It has a capacity for 700 people.
Aissatou Ndiaye, UNHCR Country Representative, said that out of the 55,665 refugees and asylum-seekers registered with UNHCR, 4 700 persons of concern are currently estimated to be held in dire conditions inside detention centers in Libya. “They urgently need to be moved to safety and to be provided with protection, lifesaving assistance, and durable solutions,” she said.
She added that the funding allows the organisation to “provide a number of services including shelter, access to health, psychosocial support, and livelihood training for evacuees during the processing of their documents for resettlement to third countries. The needs of asylum seekers and refugees trapped in Libya are immense.”
“Through the ETM and the Government of Rwanda, support solutions are being found to bring them to safety…Over the next years, we aim to support about 3,000 more people to find solutions to their plight,” she added.
Calvo Uyarra, the EU Ambassador to Rwanda, said: “The ETM in Rwanda is a crucial life-saving initiative to evacuate people facing major threats and inhumane conditions in Libya to safety in Rwanda. It is a significant example of African solidarity.”
“The additional funding for the next four years is a testament to the success that this initiative has achieved in the initial phase,” she added.
This latest round of funding builds on an earlier support package of €12.5 million euros between 2019 and April 2022.
At least 1,453 refugees evacuated from Libya have been hosted in Rwanda since September 2019, over 12 evacuation flights. Of these, 919 people departed to third countries for resettlement, and other legal pathways.
