Rwanda, the African Union Commission, and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) have extended their agreement to evacuate African refugees stranded in Libya until December 31, 2025. This extension reaffirms the commitment to providing protection and finding durable solutions for refugees and asylum-seekers caught in Libya’s ongoing conflict.
Since the original memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed in September 2019, over 2,300 refugees and asylum-seekers from countries such as Eritrea, Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia, and others have been evacuated from Libya to Rwanda. Of these, around 1,800 have been resettled in third countries.
The UNHCR will continue to offer essential services, including shelter, food, and healthcare, to evacuees during their stay in Rwanda.
This effort comes amid Libya’s struggles to stabilize after years of conflict following the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that ousted longtime dictator Moamer Kadhafi. The country remains divided between a UN-recognized government in Tripoli and a rival administration in the east.