The EU will provide 10.3 million euros in support to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees' Emergency Transit Mechanism (ETM) to protect refugees and asylum seekers in Rwanda who have had to flee Libya.
The European Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development, Neven Mimica, announced this on Tuesday 19 November in Rwanda, where he is currently on a mission.
This programme will provide people in need of international protection with the opportunity to leave Libya for subsequent resettlement.
Based on the model of ETM Niger, through which more than 2,900 refugees and asylum seekers have been evacuated from Libya since 2017, it is funded by the Emergency Trust Fund for Africa.
“This project will support efforts of the Government of Rwanda to receive and provide protection to about 1,500 refugees and asylum-seekers who are currently being held in detention centres in Libya”, the Commissioner said.
“The Emergency Transit Mechanism in Rwanda is a vital life-saving measure to bring people in need of international protection out of Libya. It broadens the support to the most vulnerable people held in Libyan detention centres that need to be closed urgently”, added High Representative of the Union, Federica Mogherini, in a statement.
Since 2017, UNHCR has evacuated more than 4,250 people from Libya to other countries. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)