Hundreds of migrants trapped in Libyan detention centres where many inmates have been subjected to abuse will be evacuated to Rwanda under an emergency plan agreed with international humanitarian agencies and the African Union.
The plan to move an initial 500 people is part of an effort to relocate thousands of migrants from Libya after an air strike by forces opposed to the internationally recognised government in Tripoli killed dozens in a detention centre in the capital in July.
The announcement on Tuesday follows an offer by Rwandan president Paul Kagame in 2017 to accept up to 30,000 African migrants trapped in Libya over several years as concern for their safety in the wartorn country grows.
The evacuation would be voluntary, predominantly made up of people from the Horn of Africa and would include children and youths, according to a joint statement published on Tuesday by Rwanda’s government, the UNHCR — the UN’S refugee agency — and the African Union.
“While some may benefit from resettlement to third countries, others will be helped to return to countries where asylum had previously been granted, or to return to their home countries if it is safe to do so,” the statement said. “Some may be given permission to remain in Rwanda subject to agreement by the competent authorities.”
UNHCR has evacuated more than 4,400 refugees and asylum seekers out of Libya since 2017, but some 4,700 people are estimated to remain in the country in “dire conditions inside detention centres”, the statement said.
The EU has faced criticism over the plight of migrants stuck in Libya because the country’s coastguard, which it trains, has been instrumental in stopping people making the journey across the Mediterranean to Europe. Human rights groups have documented multiple cases of rape, torture and other crimes that have taken place in the Libyan detention facilities, some of which are run by militias.
EU diplomats have defended the bloc’s record, saying Europe is still taking in refugees and doing its best to improve conditions in detention centres. On Tuesday Brussels welcomed the “excellent initiative” of the Rwanda evacuation, adding that the EU would help “provide durable solutions to those in need in Libya. [The] EU stands ready to consider supporting it.”
The proposal to send migrants voluntarily to Rwanda would help deal with the “pervasively inhumane detention policy facing those disembarked in Libya”, according to a letter sent in July by the UN’S International Organisation for Migration and High Commissioner for Refugees. It was addressed to Federica Mogherini, the EU’S top diplomat, and Moussa Faki Mahamat, chair of the African Union Commission.
The Rwandan offer is consistent with Mr Kagame’s record during nearly two decades in power of cultivating the goodwill of western donors. Despite evidence of increasing authoritarianism, Mr Kagame was re-elected in 2017 with 99 per cent of the vote, foreign donors continue to contribute about 35 per cent of Rwanda’s budget.
Sceptics warn that although evacuating migrants from Libya to Rwanda might improve their living conditions, it would not necessarily change their prospects. They may still be unable to go home or to travel onwards.
