The first batch of refugees from Libya are expected in Rwanda later on Thursday in an agreement between the East African country and the UN.
The plane carrying the 66 migrants departed Misrata Airport for Kigali, where they will be taken to a refugee facility outside the capital.
The move is part of a commitment made by President Paul Kagame’s government in 2017 to help ease the migrant crisis in the North African country.
“The newly set Transit Mechanism in Rwanda will provide much-needed safety for refugees stranded in Libya for years,” the UNHCR said after their departure.
“Many unaccompanied minors, single mothers & families are part of this journey that will grant them with safety and security after years of struggle.”
The UNHCR estimates that more than 50,000 people fleeing war and poverty in Africa remain in Libya, where they are holed up in inhumane detention centres.
Libya has bore a major brunt of the migrant crisis involving countries with access to the Mediterranean Sea.
Human trafficking cells have operated within the country for years, taking advantage of the crisis there. The country became a favoured departing point for migrants seeking to reach Europe by making the precarious sea crossing.
The African Union in 2017 urged its members to help the situation by taking in the migrants into their borders.
