International

Rwanda receives second-batch of migrants from Libya

The second batch of migrants who were being held in detention centres in Libya arrived in Rwanda early on Friday morning as part of a resettlement deal.

The group is composed of 99 men, 24 women and 59 minors, an official from Rwanda’s ministry of emergency management told the BBC Great Lakes service.

Some of them are among the most vulnerable of those being held in Libya, the official added.

The UN Refugee agency said 106 are from Eritrea, 15 from Somalia, two from Sudan and one from Syria.

The resettlement is part of an agreement between the Rwanda government, UNHCR and the African Union, which will benefit 500 migrants being detained in Libya.

The first group of 66 migrants arrived on 27 September and have been housed in Gashora, a trading centre east of the capital, Kigali, where the new arrivals were taken to.

According to the agreement, the migrants are allowed to seek permanent residence in Rwanda, seek asylum in another country, or helped to return to their countries of origin.

Rwandans have generally been welcoming of the migrants.

Source: BBC

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