About 43,000 refugees and asylum seekers registered by U.N. refugee agency UNHCR are now in Libya. Many are trapped in smuggling networks or detention centres where they are exposed to a range of abuses including rape and torture that have been widely documented. Most migrants travelling through Libya towards Europe come from sub-Saharan African countries. Many fleeing poverty, repression or conflict journey across the desert through Niger, Algeria or Sudan. The Libya to Italy crossing has become the main migrant route to Europe since an agreement between the EU and Turkey shut down smuggling through Greece last year.
A group of 25 refugees have been evacuated from Libya to Niger to have resettlement claims processed, in the first operation of its kind from the North African country, the United Nations said. The initial group evacuated by air from Tripoli to Niamey on Saturday was made up of 15 women, six men and four children from Eritrea, Ethiopia and Sudan.
"We hope to be able to carry out more evacuations in the near future," said Vincent Cochetel, UNHCR's Special Envoy for the Central Mediterranean. But he said the scheme would remain "limited in scale" as long as commitments to resettle refugees remained "insufficient". "These refugee evacuations can only be part of broader asylum-building and migration management efforts to address the complex movement of migrants and refugees who embark on perilous journeys across the Sahara Desert and the Mediterranean Sea," he said.
European states have pledged tens of millions of euros to Libya, Niger and migrants' countries of origin in an effort to stem the flows. European policy has drawn criticism from human rights groups that say it traps migrants in Libya, exposing them to further abuse there.
A group of 25 refugees have been evacuated from Libya to Niger to have resettlement claims processed, in the first operation of its kind from the North African country, the United Nations said. The initial group evacuated by air from Tripoli to Niamey on Saturday was made up of 15 women, six men and four children from Eritrea, Ethiopia and Sudan.
"We hope to be able to carry out more evacuations in the near future," said Vincent Cochetel, UNHCR's Special Envoy for the Central Mediterranean. But he said the scheme would remain "limited in scale" as long as commitments to resettle refugees remained "insufficient". "These refugee evacuations can only be part of broader asylum-building and migration management efforts to address the complex movement of migrants and refugees who embark on perilous journeys across the Sahara Desert and the Mediterranean Sea," he said.
European states have pledged tens of millions of euros to Libya, Niger and migrants' countries of origin in an effort to stem the flows. European policy has drawn criticism from human rights groups that say it traps migrants in Libya, exposing them to further abuse there.
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