Libya: Rwanda Receives Over 170 Asylum Seekers From Libya

18 June 2026
The New Times (Kigali)
By Jesca Mutamba

Rwandan authorities on Wednesday, June 17, received 173 asylum seekers evacuated from Libya under the Emergency Transit Mechanism (ETM).

According to the Ministry in Charge of Emergency Management (MINEMA), the group comprises 85 Sudanese, 66 Eritreans, seven Ethiopians, 12 South Sudanese, and two Somali nationals.

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The asylum seekers were received in partnership with the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR).

More than 3,000 refugees and asylum seekers evacuated from Libya and received in Rwanda since September 2019.

According to the ministry, 2,623 of them have since been successfully resettled in third countries.

"Rwanda remains committed to offering refuge to people in need," MINEMA said in a statement.

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The ETM was established through a partnership between Rwanda, the African Union and UNHCR to provide temporary protection to refugees and asylum seekers stranded in Libya.

The previous group of asylum seekers arrived in February.

The asylum seekers are hosted at the Gashora Emergency Transit Centre in Bugesera District as they await resettlement and other long-term solutions.

Read the original article on New Times.

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