Norway has agreed to grant asylum to 600 people evacuated to Rwanda from Libyan detention centers last year. The Nordic country said the move is meant to counter the smuggling of refugees across the Mediterranean Sea.
Addressing a news conference in Kigali, the Rwandan Foreign Minister Vincent Biruta revealed that Norway will take in close to 500 people this year after Sweden accepted seven last month.
However, the Norwegian Justice Minister Joeran Kallmyr, clarified that the actual number will be 600, adding that the intake would not increase the overall number of refugees the government previously committed to.
“It’s important to me to show that we don’t support cynical people smugglers, and instead bring in people who need protection in an organized manner. A transit camp like the one in Rwanda will contribute to that effort,” Kallmyr said.
In September last year, Rwanda signed a deal with the United Nations to resettle migrants held in Libyan detention centers while trying to cross to Europe. Evacuated to Rwanda, the migrants were given asylum-seeker status while the United Nations refugee agency granted them refugee status.
