The United Nations refugee agency says it has been ordered to leave Libya. A spokeswoman for the UNHCR says it received a note from the Libyan authorities telling it to close its office. "We have not been given any reason by Libyan authorities for why we should leave the country," said Melissa Fleming. Thousands of migrants from sub-Saharan Africa pass through Libya on their way to Europe each year. Ms Fleming said the expulsion has taken on added gravity because of the Italian policy of pushing back migrants into Libya, Reuters news agency reports. She said the UNHCR, which has been working in Libya since 1991, is important as the North African nation has no procedure for registering refugees. "UNHCR is the asylum system in Libya," AP news agency quotes Ms Fleming as saying. "This will leave a huge vacuum for the thousands of refugees and asylum seekers who are there already and of course those who continue to arrive steadily on boats." About 9,000 refugees - mainly Palestinians, Iraqis, Sudanese and Somalis - had been registered in Libya, she said. The 3,700 asylum seekers were mainly from Eritrea, she added. Source: BBC