Rwanda Renews Libya Migration Agreement

The Rwandan government has renewed the Emergency Transit Mechanism (ETM) agreement, which sees Rwanda host migrants stranded in Libya. The renewal of the agreement was signed in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in a joint agreement with the African Union Commission (AUC) and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)..What is the Agreement?.The ETM was first signed between Rwanda, the AU, and the UNHCR in 2019. The deal aims to facilitate the transfer of migrants in Libyan detention facilities, as well as those determined to be at particular risk, to Rwanda..The purpose of the transfer of migrants out of Libya is to provide safer environment while they attempt to go through official refugee channels for asylum claims. When the ETM was created, it was done so amidst a wider deterioration in security conditions in Libya, which continues today..Libya has a strategic geographic location for migration routes given its relative proximity to European borders. Migrants from various African nations attempting to reach Italy or Greece in Europe will oftentimes begin their journey across the Mediterranean Sea from Libya and other north African nations..The journey across the sea is highly dangerous and frequently leads to fatalities amongst migrants making the trip. The journey is also oftentimes organized by human trafficking groups, who organize expensive trips by boat from the shores of northern Africa and Turkey in order to reach various European destinations..These trips take place in poorly made boats that are usually overcrowded, which is the greatest driving force of fatalities among the migrants, causing the overloaded boats to capsize while crossing the Mediterranean..Europe has been experimenting with a series of different methods at preventing illegal and dangerous migration in partnership with African nations. Tunisia, which also holds a strategic geographical location for migrants, is one of such nations that has entered into a partnership with Europe. The ETM with Rwanda is primarily funded by the EU..Different from Tunisia, however, Libya suffers from extensive insecurity issues. When the ETM was brought into effect in 2019, it was, as mentioned, amidst a deterioration of security conditions, but also amidst reports that some migrants being held in Libyan detention facilities were being sold into modern-day slavery..The ETM facilitates the transfer of many of the most vulnerable migrants being held in Libya to Rwanda. While in Rwanda, the UNHCR processes the asylum claims of individuals transferred. While this process goes on, migrants are provided with residence, certifications necessary to receive basic humanitarian assistance in Rwanda, education, food, and psycho-social support for any of those suffering from the traumatic experience either from their general travels, or from their experience in Libya..Further, they are given the ability to enroll in "income generating programs," headed by the Rwandan government, which makes "the evacuees become self-reliant." They are also given lessons in English and Kinyarwanda (the native language of Rwanda and some surrounding nations)..Migrants transferred as a part of this program are given a series of different options, provided their asylum claims are accepted, including resettlement in a third country, an extended stay in Rwanda, and more..Thus far through the program, which was modeled after a similar program with Niger two years prior, Rwanda has received more than 2,300 migrants from Libya. Of those, 1,813 have accepted resettlement in a third nation. Resettlement has so far been the choice of every migrant who has had their asylum claim approved..Migrants transferred in the program have mostly hailed from east and west Africa. They have been resettled in an array of different nations, including Norway, Sweden, Canada, France, Belgium, The Netherlands, Finland, and the US..Rwanda was selected for the program given their comparative stability and safety in the general region, as well as the fact that Rwandan President Paul Kagame had volunteered Rwanda for such a program two years prior, in 2017..The Renewal.Rwanda has now renewed the ETM, officially extending it through to 2025. A joint statement from the parties present at the renewal signing –the Rwandan government, the AUC, and the UNHCR– states that Rwanda "reaffirms its unwavering commitment to receive and protect these individuals, as well as others identified as particularly vulnerable and at-risk.".The joint statement also outlined an indiscriminate selection process for migrants being transferred out of Libya, stating that migrants are chosen based solely upon their vulnerability in Libya and not factors such as race, gender, age, nationality, or ethnicity..Further, the statement said that the three parties were working "to expand comprehensive efforts to find alternative durable solutions for evacuees who do not qualify for refugee status and are not willing to request a longer stay in Rwanda," including a potential voluntary return to their country of origin, family reunification, or different options in a third country that are being explored..Though the program has only been renewed by Rwanda until 2025, it has enough funding to last until at least 2026, and is likely to be extended again next year.