Italy Signs Agreement With The UNHCR To Bring 1,500 Refugees From Libya

Italy has signed an agreement with the UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) to evacuate 1,500 refugees in need of international protection from Libya, a country in North Africa. 

Under the agreement, Italy will bring refugees from Libya. The entire process will take three years. The agreement will help people who were forced to flee from their home countries because of war and violence. 

Migrants in Libya

In recent years, various NGOs have reported repeated incidents of violence against refugees, including women and children, at the detention centers across Libya.

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), also known as Doctors Without Borders, said that the guards beat detainees, including people seeking treatment from MSF teams, at detention centers. The migrants faced fractures, bruises, cuts and blunt trauma because of the beatings.

Most migrants fled their home countries because of war, conflict, and violence. Most migrants, including children, women who were victims of trafficking, and people who survived violence and torture, temporarily got stuck in Libya. 

Italy and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees will help these migrants. 

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Italy to help migrants

The Community of Sant’Egidio, which is one of the signatories of the agreement, said that the agreement would “pave the way to safety for those who are experiencing a nightmare of abuse and violence in Libya.”

The Community of Sant’Egidio, the Federation of Evangelical Churches in Italy (FCEI) and ARCI signed the agreement along with Italy. Marco Impagliazzo, president of the Community of Sant’Egidio, lauded the agreement.

Migrants are suffering

According to a report by The Guardian, hundreds of people from Sub-Saharan African countries were forcibly relocated to the Libyan desert and dangerous places in Sfax, Tunisia’s second largest city.

They were left without water, food, or shelter. Many migrants arrived in Libya after leaving Tunisia because of racial unrest in early July in Sfax. 

In recent months, hundreds of migrants accepted voluntary return to their home countries to escape intense torture in Libya prison. Many migrants, who engaged in a journey through the Sahara Desert, never made it past Libya. 

Authorities arrested migrants

According to the UNHCR, 2,500 migrants have died or gone missing while trying to cross Libya to Europe so far this year. 

Previously, the United Nations mission in Libya expressed concern over the country’s arbitrary arrest of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers. 

The authorities in Libya arrested thousands of men, women and children from their homes after conducting raids on alleged human traffickers camps in the country.

The authorities in Libya said that the migrants were returning to their home countries willingly. However, they were forced to return to their home countries. 

Agreement between Italy and UNHCR to help migrants

The agreement between Italy and UNHCR will help migrants. Around 600 of the 1,500 refugees will be transferred to migrant facilities. The remaining 900 refugees will be hosted by associations. 

In Italy, around 400 migrants will be taken care of by the Community of Sant’Egidio, 300 by ARCI and 200 by the Federation of Evangelical Churches.