The World Briefly

March 30, 2023

Financial Walls

Libya

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The European Union this week defended its record of helping migrants in Libya as “essential” against accusations by United Nations investigators that the bloc was facilitating crimes against humanity and other human rights abuses in the war-ravaged North African country, Africanews reported.

On Monday, investigators released a report by an UN-fact finding mission to Libya, saying that EU assistance to the Libyan migration department and the coast guard among other entities “helped and encouraged the commission of these crimes.”

The report said that migrants – some of whom could have been granted asylum – were captured, arrested, and disembarked in Libya “with the sole aim of preventing their entry into Europe, as a corollary of the European policy on immigration and the economic agenda of migration in Libya, through their subsequent detention and exploitation.”

Libya is a significant starting point for people from North Africa and beyond who want to traverse the Mediterranean Sea in dangerous boats in pursuit of a better life or sanctuary in Europe.

The Libyan Coast Guard apprehended more than 24,000 migrants attempting to leave the country. Last year, at least 529 migrants died and 848 went missing off the coast of Libya, according to the United Nations’ International Organization for Migration.

The report added that investigators also believe that the bloc and EU nations aided Libyan officials with some form of financial and technical support – as well as equipment such as boats – to intercept and detain migrants.

The EU’s executive body, the European Commission, responded that it took the allegations “very seriously.” EU officials countered that its work in Libya was essential and often coordinated with UN agencies.

Commission spokesman Peter Stano said that the EU mission in Libya cooperated with investigators and rejected allegations that the bloc financed Libyan entities to keep migrants in the country.

Meanwhile, in Greece, a voluntary scheme by EU nations to take unaccompanied migrant children from the country ended on Tuesday, increasing concerns about the fate of minors traveling alone until long-delayed asylum reforms are finalized, according to the Associated Press.

EU legislators have completed the European Parliament’s negotiating stance on the reforms, and they expect that countries can reach an agreement on the following steps before the next European elections in May 2024.

This story originally appeared in the March 30, 2023 newsletter, Banking On It.