A group of 66 refugees and assylum seekers have arrived in Rwanda from Libya, comprising of several unaccompanied minors and single mothers.
The group left Misrata Airport in Libya and landed in Kigali International Airport on Thursday evening aboard a chartered plane, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, (UNHCR) in Libya.
The refugees entail 500 refugees Rwanda plans to evacuate from the country to “grant them safety and security after years of struggle.”
Most of the refugees are from Somalia, Eritrea, and Ethiopia, who were trying to reach Europe but were stranded in Libya where they are subjected to abuses including slavery.
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“For some, they will be resettled onwards to third countries; others may have the opportunity to be reintegrated here into local Rwandan communities, but the most important thing is that now these vulnerable refugees are finally safe,” said Charlie Yaxley, the UNHCR Spokesperson for Africa and the Mediterranean.
The refugees will be hosted at an emergency transit mechanism in Bugesera District, Gashora Transit Centre, which previously hosted Burundian refugees.
The refugees were openly being sold in modern-day slave markets in Libya.
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