A/HRC/18/54
the condition of migrants in reception centres; for example, in April, the Government of
Italy put in place procedures intended to facilitate the rapid transfer of migrants and
asylum-seekers from Lampedusa, in partnership with non-governmental organizations.42
53.
More than 1,600 of some 37,000 Bangladeshi migrant workers forced to flee the
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya have received reintegration grants of 50,000 taka ($680) each from
the Government of Bangladesh through a grant programme, which is managed by IOM and
funded by a $40 million loan from the World Bank.
54.
On 5 April 2011, the European Union adopted a Directive (2011/63/EU), which is
aimed at harmonizing legislation and penalties, ensuring successful prosecution and better
protection of and assistance to victims, and preventing trafficking. The Directive also
repeals Framework Decision 2002/629/JHA and represents a crucial step forward in
addressing human trafficking in and into the territory of the European Union.
C.
International cooperation
55.
Neighbouring countries and countries outside the region received hundreds of
thousands of migrants and asylum-seekers fleeing the upheaval in the Libyan Arab
Jamahiriya. The largest number of migrants leaving the country fled overland to Tunisia
and Egypt, while significant flows of migrants went to Algeria and the Niger, as well as to
Chad and the Sudan.
56.
A joint humanitarian operation, spearheaded by IOM and UNHCR with the support
of a large number of countries, has evacuated around 156,566 migrants stranded at border
camps in Tunisia and Egypt. Humanitarian agencies approached donors to provide
chartered long-haul aircrafts to return migrants to their countries of origin. Tens of
thousands of others were taken home by aircraft and ships provided by their Governments.
Egypt, Tunisia, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Northern Ireland offered air or sea transport to assist in the evacuation.43
57.
A number of countries provided financial support for the humanitarian response,
including Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Luxembourg,
Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom, as well as the European Commission. Nonetheless,
the revised Regional Flash Appeal for the Libyan Crisis was still significantly underfunded
in early August.
58.
Efforts were also made to assist migrants stranded by the fighting inside the Libyan
Arab Jamahiriya through air and land evacuations. On 30 July, for example, IOM
announced the successful completion of an operation to airlift 1,398 vulnerable stranded
Chadian migrants out of the southern Libyan town of Sebha to the Chadian capital
N'Djamena.
59.
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe noted in its resolution 1820
(2011) that “the number of asylum seekers in Europe, and in particular those arriving from
the southern Mediterranean, should not pose an insurmountable problem for Europe as a
whole, although their concentration in certain regions will pose a much greater problem for
those countries or regions in the country concerned.” The European Commission has
identified up to €25 million which, under the European Refugee Fund and the External
42
43
14
Caritas Italiana submission.
UNHCR Press Briefing Notes, 4 March 2011.
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