UN: Dozens of refugees from Libya sent to US
Apr 23, 2012, 7:15 PM
TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) – A representative of the U.N.’s refugee agency says 60 African and Iraqi refugees stranded on border of Tunisia and Libya have left for the United States.
Hala Harouni, the representative of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees in Tunisia, said Monday that U.S. authorities agreed to receive the refugees, who fled Libya and have been stranded for the last year in Camp Choucha on the border.
The refugees are mostly Somalis, but include Sudanese, Eritreans, Ethiopians and three members of an Iraqi family.
Hundreds of thousands of foreign workers fled Libya when a civil war to overthrow Moammar Gadhafi erupted in February 2011.
Most were eventually repatriated by their home countries, but a few thousand remained in Camp Choucha.
So far, 1,286 have been sent to European countries, Australia and the U.S.
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