Libyan Prime Minister Abdul-Hamed Dbeibah on Wednesday met with Italian Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese in Tripoli to deliberate over illegal migration issues.
Both leaders stressed the need for continuous communication to coordinate on a number of important issues. They also discussed the current events in Tunisia and their impact on illegal migration.
Although Libya has had its fair share of insecurity since the fall of the late leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, the North African country has remained a preferred route of departure for illegal migrants who want to cross the Mediterranean Sea to Europe.
Libya and Italy have cooperated in time past to stem the tide of illegal immigration, one of which is the Libya-Italy Memorandum of Understanding on Migration.
Libya-Italy Memorandum of Understanding on Migration LIMUM provides Italian support to Libyan maritime authorities to stop vessels and return asylum-seekers to detention camps in Libya, a flagrant violation of European Union and international norms and legislation.
The aid has seen about $100 million in training, ships, and equipment from Italy and the EU’s Trust Fund for Africa.
Though the immigration route to Italy did shut down, some 40,000 people, including thousands of children, have been repatriated to Libya to face horrific ordeals.
According to the International Organization for Migration, more than 19,000 illegal migrants, including women and children, have been rescued at sea and returned to Libya in 2021, while 360 died and 570 went missing off the Libyan coast on the Central Mediterranean route.
