A group of 97 vulnerable refugees
arrived at Rome's Fiumicino airport from Tripoli on Tuesday
under the terms of an agreement to evacuate 1,500 people in need
of international protection from Libya to Italy in three years.
The new arrivals include 55 women and 27 children and they are
from Eritrea, Ethiopia, Central African Republic, Somalia,
Sudan, South Sudan, Syria and Palestine.
The group includes victims of trafficking and survivors of
torture and gender-based violence and people with serious health
conditions.
Their arrival is the result of a new protocol signed in December
by the interior and foreign ministries, UNHCR, the UN Refugee
Agency, ARCI and , the Community of Sant'Egidio, the Federation
of Evangelical Churches and INMP.
The refugees have been transferred to reception centres managed
by ARCI and the Community of Sant'Egidio and will receive
integration support including through language lessons and job
market inclusion.
Since 2017, UNHCR has evacuated or resettled 1,368 refugees and
asylum seekers from Libya to Italy as part of efforts to promote
and expand safe pathways allowing people in need of
international protections to arrive in third countries in safety
and dignity without risking their lives in dangerous sea
crossings at the hands of unscrupulous traffickers.
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