Hundreds Of Libyan Ex-Slaves Begin Arriving In Canada

Canada has begun resettling hundreds of refugees living in slavery in Libya, one year after the United Nations asked countries to begin accepting them, the UN and the federal government said Wednesday. According to the Canadian Press, 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 centers 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," said Casasola. "That can take time."

Libya has been a major transit 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.

More than 150 people have been resettled and another 600 more are expected over the next two years through the regular refugee settlement program, Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen said Wednesday quoted by Bay Today. 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.

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, while the populist anger in Italy in response to the influx of tens of thousands of refugees arriving from Algeria catalyzed the dramatic political upheavals seen in Rome in 2018, and prompted an acute diplomatic spat between Italy and Brueels.

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