Amnesty Switzerland: Migrants evacuated from Libya should be allowed to resettle in Switzerland

Amnesty called on all European CMCG members to increase refugee quotas, allow family reunions beyond the scope of a nuclear family, and offer humanitarian visas to those stranded in Libyan detention centres, Swissinfo said.

On Sunday, Swiss justice minister Simonetta Sommaruga had called for an EU rescue operation for migrants detained in Libya. She spoke of aiding the most vulnerable such as women and children, as well as creating migrant reception centres in African countries like Niger, it explained.

However, Amnesty Switzerland warned against shifting responsibility for migrants to African countries instead of creating “proper legal channels” for them to escape human rights violations in Libya. The NGO also demanded that all migrants be released from Libyan detention centres, their presence in the country decriminalised, and allow the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees UNHCR to operate freely, according to Swissinfo.