The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) urged potential host countries on Monday to take in 1,300 vulnerable refugees currently in Libya, part of an international effort to tackle the migration crisis in the chaos-ridden country.

The refugees are being brought to safety in neighbouring Niger, from where they are to be permanently resettled in other countries.

They include unaccompanied children, single mothers, people with serious illnesses, and torture victims.

‘This is a desperate call for solidarity and humanity,’ said Volker Tuerk, UNCHR's refugee protection chief. ‘We need to get extremely vulnerable refugees out of Libya as soon as possible.’  Thousands of migrants and refugees in Libya have become victims of people smugglers and other criminals, who subject them to extortion, forced labour and mistreatment in unofficial prisons.

Migrants in official detention centres also suffer inhumane treatment, according to UN reports.

In early December, the International Organization for Migration, another UN agency, announced plans to fly 15,000 detained migrants in Libya back to their home countries by the end of this year.

The United Nations have been stepping up their work to help migrants after the European Union and the African Union agreed on an evacuation plan for Libya in late November, while Libyan Prime Minister Fayez Serraj promised UN agencies access to detention camps.

According to IOM estimates, there are at least 700,000 migrants in the country, which is the main African launching point for people migrating to Europe. 

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