The United Nations is now transporting 'asylum seekers' from Africa to Italy by airplane, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has revealed.
 
UNHCR Italia posted a photo and brief announcement about the arrival of 150 'refugees' landing in Italy from Libya under cover of darkness.

"Happening now: 150 refugees land safely in Italy with second UNHCR evacuation flight from Libya," read the tweet.

In a subsequent official statement, the UN revealed that it has relocated over 1,000 migrants in this new effort, with over 300 being moved directly to Italy and nearly 800 more being held in Niger where they await transfer "through resettlement or other durable solutions" - which could also mean that their final destinations might eventually be Europe. Additionally, the agency hopes to "evacuate" at least 1,000 more over the course of the year.
 
"Since November, UNHCR, the UN Agency for Refugees, has evacuated more than 1,000 highly vulnerable refugees from Libya and is identifying lasting solutions for them in third countries. On Tuesday, a flight brought 128 refugees from Tripoli to Niamey, in Niger, and yesterday, Wednesday 14, with a second flight, 150 refugees arrived in Rome from Tripoli. Thus, a total of 1,084 refugees have been evacuated from the start of UNHCR operations in three months."
 
Italians did not receive this news well, making their anger known in replies to the UNHCR tweet.
"At night. Secretly. Knowing italian citizens are powerless. This is an act of war. After this, you can bark 'Fascists' against Italians as loud as you will. There are only one kind of fascists: the ones who force themselves to others and beat them harder when they resist to them," wrote one user.
"After March4 maybe it will not be so easy to fill Italy with shit," commented another user, referencing elections in Italy that could change the face of European politics, as a coalition of anti-migrant, Euroskeptic parties could win and carry Matteo Salvini into the prime ministerial position.
Salvini has vowed to deport at least 500,000 migrants and close Italy's borders.

It has become fairly common knowledge that non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and international agencies such as the UNHCR have been working in concert with human traffickers to aid thousands of migrants in their journeys on the Mediterranean Sea, effectively acting as a ferry service for illegal immigrants in many cases. However, the addition of air transport may come as a surprise to many.
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