119 vulnerable refugees were evacuated from Libya to Rome’s Fiumicino airport on Tuesday. They refugees included 90 men, 18 women travelling alone in addition to eight families from Eritrea, Ethiopia, Syria, Somalia, Sudan and South Sudan, the United Nations High commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said.
Tuesday’s evacuation was the third flight carried out as part of a protocol signed in December 2023 by the Italian ministries of interior and foreign affairs, UNHCR, Arci, the Community of Sant’Egidio, the Federation of Evangelical Churches and the National Institute for Health, Migration and Poverty (INMP).
After their arrival, 102 people will stay in centres that are part of the Hosting and Integration System SAI, while the remaining 17 will go to shelters managed by the ARCI association.
Since 2017, the UN Refugee Agency has evacuated or resettled to Italy from Libya 1,368 refugees and asylum seekers.
UNHCR estimates that in 2024, over 2.4 million refugees across the world will need resettlement: up 36% compared to 2022 when the issue concerned 1.47 million people.
