This archive report was first published on 5 October 2019.
On October 5, 2019, Rwanda made headlines by offering to give refuge to African immigrants stuck in Libyan detention camps, showcasing African solutions to African problems.
The United Nations High Commission for Refugee external relations officer for Rwanda, Elise Villechalane, emphasized that Rwanda's gesture is a demonstration of sharing responsibility in order to protect people in need.
According to Ms. Villechalane, the Emergency Transit Mechanism in Rwanda is an example of the kind of humanitarian interventions needed to rescue vulnerable refugees and asylum seekers caught up in the escalating conflict inside Libya.
Under an arrangement struck between Rwanda, the UNHCR, and the African Union in May, Kigali will receive 500 refugees and asylum seekers from Libya, enabling the UNHCR to support more people.
The UNHCR is bearing the cost of the evacuation flights, transport to the transit facility in Bugesera, the basic needs of protection and humanitarian assistance, while working on durable solutions.
Human traffickers have taken advantage of the state of war and general lawlessness in Libya to offer immigrants a transit route to Europe through the country's 1,770km unpoliced coastline.
The International Organisation for Migration estimates that nearly 182,000 African migrants transiting through Libya have landed in Italy in the past two years, exacerbating an already critical refugee problem spilling out of Syria and other parts of the Middle East.
