Rwanda receives 113 asylum seekers evacuated from Libya

KIGALI, Rwanda | Xinhua | Rwanda said it received 113 asylum seekers evacuated from Libya late Thursday, the government announced.

The evacuees include individuals from South Sudan, Eritrea, Sudan, Ethiopia, Cote d’Ivoire and Somalia, the Rwandan Ministry in charge of Emergency Management said in a statement.

The evacuees, who arrived through Kigali International Airport, were transported to the Gashora transit center, in eastern Rwanda, from where they will wait for processing to relocate to other countries.

The evacuation to Rwanda is facilitated by a 2019 memorandum of understanding Rwanda signed with the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the African Union, under which a transit mechanism for refugees and asylum seekers evacuated out of Libya was set up.

Since September 2019, Rwanda has received more than 2,355 refugees and asylum seekers from Libya, according to the statement.

The arrival of the evacuees from Libya came after Rwanda’s angry response to UNHCR accusations that Kigali endangers asylum-seekers.

Earlier this week, Rwanda accused the UNHCR of “fabrication” and undermining the country’s welcoming policy after the refugee agency warned British judges that it may have new evidence from 2024 that Rwanda has endangered asylum seekers, despite a British Parliament bill declaring the East African country safe. ■