UNHCR flies 162 illegal immigrants from Libya to Italy for first time in history

BY Libyan Express Dec 23, 2017 - 21:05

UNHCR announced Friday the evacuation of 162 highly vulnerable refugees from Libya to Italy, including unaccompanied children and women who had been held captive for extended periods of time.

“For the first time, we have been able to evacuate vulnerable refugees straight from Libya to Italy. This is really ground-breaking and a much welcomed development that could not have happened without the strong commitment of the Italian authorities and the support of the Libyan Government. We really hope other countries will follow the same path,” said Vincent Cochetel, UNHCR’s Special Envoy for the Central Mediterranean Situation.

“Some of those evacuated suffered tremendously and were held captive in inhumane conditions while in Libya. Five of these women gave birth while in detention, with only the very limited medical assistance we were able to provide with our partner on the ground, IMC,” added Cochetel.

The group of Eritrean, Ethiopian, Somali and Yemeni refugees include families, single mothers, unaccompanied children and disabled people. All of them need health care and counseling.

After their release from detention, they were accompanied by Libya-based UNHCR staff to Tripoli and then to Italy, where they landed at a military base, near Rome, and were transferred to the Italian authorities.

Upon arrival, all refugees went through medical checks and were given warm clothes and a hot meal before undergoing identification procedures. UNHCR teams composed of cultural mediators and legal experts were deployed to provide the evacuees with information on the asylum procedure. The refugees were then transferred to several reception facilities. Humanitarian care and accommodation was provided by the Episcopal Conference of Italy through Caritas.

In parallel, a third evacuation from Libya to Niger will be organized in the coming days, bringing an additional 150 refugees to safety.

The views expressed in Op-Ed pieces are those of the author and do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of Libyan Express.
How to submit an Op-Ed: Libyan Express accepts opinion articles on a wide range of topics. Submissions may be sent to oped@libyanexpress.com. Please include ‘Op-Ed’ in the subject line.