THE United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has evacuated 74 vulnerable refugees from Libya to Niger. A vast majority of these are children and women, numbering 51 and 22 respectively.
Together with a man, they had been detained in the North African country that is at the centre of slave trade scandal. The refugees are of Eritrean and Somali nationality.
“Recently, they have been detained in Libya but they can now hope anew,” said Vincent Cochetel, UNHCR’s Special Envoy for the Central Mediterranean Situation.
With the support of UNHCR’s partners in Niger, the refugees will be accommodated in guesthouses in Niamey.
The youngsters will stay in centres for children, where assistance, psychosocial support and recreational activities will be made available.
Last week, UNHCR launched an urgent appeal asking for 1 300 resettlement places to be made available for vulnerable refugees in Libya by the end of March 2018.