750 former slaves from Libya moving to Canada
Feds also plan to take in 100 from Niger rescued from migrant detention centres
OTTAWA — More than a year after the United Nations asked countries to take in refugees living in slavery in Libya, Canada has begun resettling hundreds of them, the United Nations and the federal government said Wednesday.
Canada was one of the few countries to respond to a request from the United Nations refugee agency in December 2017 to take the refugees who were living in detention centres in Libya, said Michael Casasola, the head of resettlement for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Ottawa.
“It can take some time for the countries to do their selection because it was a voluntary act. So they want to screen. They go through their usual selection processes,” Casasola said. “That can take time.”
More than 150 people have been resettled and another 600 are expected over the next two years through the regular refugee settlement program, Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen said Wednesday.
Canada is also planning to take in 100 refugees from Niger who were rescued from Libyan migrant detention centres, including victims of human smuggling, he added.
That was also helpful because Niger has been pressuring the UN to find new homes for the refugees it has taken in, said Casasola.
“What Canada has done in addition to being part of the pool of cases in Libya, they’re actually taking refugees out of Niger directly, which is something that helps us get some space with the local government, too,” he said.
Libya is a major stopping point for asylum-seekers from Africa who intend to cross the Mediterranean Sea to reach Europe. A video of what appeared to be smugglers selling imprisoned migrants near Tripoli became public in 2017, prompting world leaders to start talking about freeing migrants detained in Libyan camps.
Hussen revealed the resettlement plan on Monday night at an event in Ottawa to celebrate Black History Month, but provided few details.
The minister told the gathering that Canada was asked by the UN to “rescue” people who have “endured unimaginable trauma.”
The Mediterranean Sea crossing from north Africa to Europe’s southern coast has been a perilous one for migrants fleeing violence and instability.
Last month, the United Nations Migration Agency reported that 5,757 migrants and refugees entered Europe by sea through the first 27 days of 2019, an increase over the 5,502 who arrived during the same period last year. The death toll dropped slightly, to 207 this year compared with 242 deaths in the same period of 2018.
The influx of migrants into Europe has sparked a backlash. Italy’s populist government does not allow ships to bring migrants to its shores, as part of an effort to force other European Union countries to share the burden of dealing with arrivals.
“As Canada takes more refugees, including Libyan refugees, it is important to remind other countries of their own commitments under the 1951 Refugee Convention and the need to respect the principle of responsibility sharing, which is one of the new norms of the refugee compact which Canada and other countries have just signed,” said Fen Hampson, the executive director of the Canadian-led World Refugee Council.
The council, a coalition of experts and former politicians, was formed to provide solutions to the global migration crisis.