TRIPOLI: On a humanitarian flight from Libya to Rwanda, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) confirmed the evacuation of 176 vulnerable asylum applicants. "It was the second such flight to Rwanda this year, using the Emergency Transit Mechanism," the UN agency said in a statement. "The first took place in July." Several babies from Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan, and South Sudan were among the evacuees, according to the statement.

Many of the asylum seekers were victims of trafficking or survivors of gender-based violence and other forms of abuse, according to the UNHCR, and several had recently been released from detention centres.

The agency stated that it attempts to assist asylum seekers in finding long-term solutions such as resettlement in third countries, voluntary return, or local integration in Rwanda.  "It's encouraging to see more Rwandans being transported to safety. We applaud the country's authorities and supporters for their great support of efforts to restore the evacuees' optimism "UNHCR representative in Rwanda, Ahmed Baba Fall, stated.

According to the statement, a total of 7,490 refugees and asylum seekers have fled Libya via humanitarian evacuations or resettlement to other countries since 2017. Due to the state of anarchy in which Libya has been mired since 2011, many illegal migrants, especially Africans, opt to cross the Mediterranean Sea to reach European coastlines.

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