TRIPOLI, May 4 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on Thursday said it evacuated 179 asylum-seekers and refugees to Niger from Libya.
"Today, 179 asylum-seekers and refugees were evacuated on the first flight to Niger in 2023. The group included children, women at risk, survivors of violence, people with serious medical conditions, survivors of trafficking and some who had recently been released from detention," the UNHCR said in a statement.
During their stay in the Emergency Transit Mechanism (ETM) in Niger, the asylum-seekers and refugees were provided with accommodation as well as medical care, psychosocial support and language classes, it said.
The UNHCR added that it aims to help the evacuees to find durable solutions such as resettlement to third countries.
More than 4,200 asylum-seekers and refugees have been evacuated to the ETM since 2017 by the UNHCR, which has also helped 5,800 others to resettle in third countries, according to the UN refugee agency.
Since the fall of late leader Muammar Gaddafi's regime in 2011, Libya has been plagued by armed conflicts, chaos and political instability. ■