Seventy-two refugees evacuated from Libya to Romania, says UNHCR
Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - A total of 72 refugees of three different nationalities have recently been evacuated from Libya to an emergency transit centre in Romania, ahead of their resettlement in Norway, the Tripoli office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees announced on Wednesday.
"Over the past few days, 72 refugees from Eritrea, Somalia and Syria have been evacuated from Libya to Romania's emergency transit centre," the UNHCR said in a tweet, adding that "they should be resettled in Norway before the end of the year".
The UNHCR office expressed its thanks "to all governments, partners for making this possible".
In late November, 43 Eritrean, Sudanese and Syrian refugees were evacuated by the UNHCR from Libya to Niger where they will remain in transit before reaching Switzerland.
Previously, 117 illegal migrants stranded in Libya were evacuated by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees to Rwanda, the third such operation under the Refugee Assistance Programme in emergency situation in this north African country.
More than 44,000 illegal migrants and asylum seekers are registered in Libya with the High Commission for Refugees, while more than 1,200 asylum seekers are in UNHCR's assembly and departure centre.
Libya is both a transit and destination country for illegal immigration and in recent years has been subjected to a large influx of migrants, aided by the situation of insecurity that prevails in the country, exacerbated by the military escalation that near Tripoli since 4 April.
-0- PANA BY/JSG/BBA/MA 11Dec2019
