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A group of 130 refugees and asylum-seekers from Libya arrived in Rwanda on the night of Tuesday, December 29, making it the fifth group from the North African country to temporarily stay in Rwanda.
Asylum seekers will eventually be resettled in other countries, according to an existing arrangement.
According to UNHCR, the world refugee body, the group is made up of 67 Eritreans, 48 Sudanese, 12 Somalis, two Nigerians and one Libyan.
Visibly, most of the newcomers are young and some couples who were with their young children.
Upon arrival at Kigali International Airport on Tuesday evening, they were tested for Covid-19 and then escorted to La Palisse Hotel Nyamata in the Bugesera district, from where they will await their results.
Then they will go to the Gashora Emergency Transit Mechanism located in the same district, where they will be housed.
Since 2019, Rwanda has been receiving refugees and asylum seekers who were evacuated from Libya, after being stranded there, some for years.
The measure is in line with the framework established through a tripartite agreement between the Government of Rwanda, UNHCR and the African Union.
Under the agreement, Rwanda pledged to host African refugees trapped in Libya after their desperate efforts to reach European countries were halted.
In total, 515 refugees and asylum seekers have so far been evacuated to Rwanda and of these, more than 200 have been resettled in other countries, mainly in Europe.
According to the Ministry of Emergency Management, 131 were resettled in Sweden, 23 in Canada, 46 in Norway and 5 in France.
