UNHCR: 134 migrants evacuated from Libya to Niger

On 26 January, UNHCR evacuated 134 vulnerable refugees, including 74 unaccompanied and separated children, from Libya to UNHCR’s Emergency Transit Mechanism (ETM) in Niger.

In a statement on Saturday, UNHCR said that they will await in Niger durable solutions, including resettlement.

With this flight, UNHCR will have evacuated 523 refugees from Libya (361 to the Niger ETM and 162 to Italy). In September 2017, the High Commissioner appealed for 40,000 additional resettlement places for 15 priority countries of asylum and transit along the Central Mediterranean route. Against these projected needs, UNHCR has to date received approximately 13,000 offers of resettlement places in 2018 and 2019.

UNHCR added that it continues to identify and process vulnerable cases for resettlement and other durable solutions, including from its urban caseload.

Over the last three months, UNHCR processed and referred 400 cases of those in need of resettlement directly from Libya.

On 25 January, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Libya launched the Humanitarian Response Plan 2018 for Libya, to support the humanitarian needs of 940,000 people living in the country. The event was co-chaired by H.E. Fayez al-Sarraj, President of the Presidency Council, and Dr. Ghassan Salame, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya. Under the HRP, UNHCR is appealing for $ 85 million.