The first batch of migrants who were evacuated from Libya are now waiting at a transit center in Rwanda to find out about their refugee status. Regardless of the decision, many of these traumatized people see Rwanda as a transit country, not their new home.
154 Somali refugees were sent to Germany from Ethiopia last week. The resettlement was made possible through a program run by the German and Ethiopian governments, the UN migration agency, and the UN refugee agency.
UNHCR reports that 123 vulnerable refugees have been transferred from Libya to Rwanda. About 3,740 refugees are still in Libyan detention centers.
The EU has delivered only three-quarters of a two-year program due to be completed by the end of October. Among those left in limbo are people evacuated from Libya on a promise of resettlement in Europe.
Rwanda has welcomed 66 refugees from other African nations, who had been stuck under dangerous conditions in Libya. The central African country is expected relocate thousands of people stranded in Libya under a new program. However, there are already questions about the future of the program.
Ireland is being urged to take in 36 refugee children from Greece as soon as possible. The call follows criticism of the government for failing to meet its refugee resettlement target.
The Humanitarian Corridors project in Italy has brought a total of 91 refugees to Rome from Lebanon over the span of two days. The new arrivals, who arrived in two separate groups, will be accommodated and integrated in regions throughout the country.
The UN Migration Agency IOM has just completed an EU-funded pilot project called LINK IT. The project intended to boost integration outcomes for Syrian refugees resettled in the EU; namely in Germany, Portugal, Romania and the UK. LINK IT focused on strengthening links between pre-departure and post-arrival integration support for refugees.
The United Nations said on Tuesday that its center for vulnerable migrants in Tripoli was severely overcrowded. They are calling on other countries worldwide to take in more refugees.
The UN agencies UNHCR and IOM reported that 88 refugees have been resettled from Lebanon to Italy this week. The refugees are part of 17 Syrian families who fled the conflict in their country.
Members of civil society taking vulnerable refugees under their wings – that's the premise of Germany’s community sponsorship-based resettlement program for refugees (“NesT”). Now, 25 mentor groups are ready to welcome an individual or a family of refugees waiting to be resettled from third countries. The pilot program, run jointly by the government and faith-based organizations, has groups of at least five volunteers serving as "mentors" who commit to covering refugees' rent and improving their overall conditions for integration. The first of a total of 500 refugees are expected to arrive this fall.
From Turkey to the Horn of Africa, refugees are in dire need of permanent resettlement. The UNHCR said there "simply has to be more equitable sharing of responsibility for global crises."