EU leaders approve additional €200 million for projects to close down Libya migrant route
EU member state leaders yesterday approved an additional €200 million for a number of projects that will close down Libya migrant routes.
Sources close to EU Council President Donald Tusk shared with The Malta Independent explained that: “We (the EU as a whole) start in the territorial waters of Libya, where we cannot go, but we can help the Libyan coastguard by strengthening them in training, supporting, in equipping them so that they can better fight the smugglers and better search and rescue people in the boats and take them back to Libya.
The source added that the EU plan to “help the local communities so that they can better host the migrants, so that they are less likely to depart from Libya as well. We will work with International Organisation of Migration,
UNHCR (the United Nations refugee agency), who are already in Libya handling the voluntary settlements and the genuine refugees there.”
The further aid was approved throughout an informal EU summit on migration in Valletta. In a declaration signed by EU leaders, it stated a commitment: “To cover the most urgent funding needs now and throughout 2017, we welcome the Commission’s decision to mobilise as a first step an additional €200 million for the North Africa window of the Fund and to give priority to migration-related projects concerning Libya.”
The approach, EU leaders have insisted, will stem the flow of migrants coming from Libya, therefore mitigating the number of casualties of migrants drowning on unsafe and overcrowded boats attempting to make the perilous crossing.
A Memorandum of Understanding has been signed between Italy and Libya regarding the migration crisis, that is widely viewed as being in line and supporting the approach laid out this morning by EU heads of government.
One of the main bones of contention, besides the massive casualties, is the profits being made by smugglers through such a practice. There is also a proposal in place to safely return a number of migrants that are ineligible to remain in Europe. The EU has stated that it is working with UNHCR at camps in Libya where migrants are being held. Doctors Without Borders, as reported by Associated Press, have reported that the camps are already dangerously overcrowded.
Groups opposing the deal argue that with Libya’s unstable government, and the massive human rights abuses that take place within its borders, this is unfavourable solution.
Earlier yesterday, 16 NGOs said the Maltese government’s call on the European Commission to look into bypassing, waiving or otherwise ignoring the principle of non-refoulement should absolutely not be entertained by the European Union’s executive body.
After the morning session, the EU leaders walked around Valletta, visiting St John’s Co-Cathedral and then walked towards the Upper Barrakka Gardens. They took the lift down to the waterfront and boarding two sailing boats, which took them to Fort St Angelo for lunch.
The afternoon session was an occasion for the 27 leaders to prepare for the upcoming 60th anniversary of the Treaties of Rome on 25 March 2017. The Treaty of Rome had led to the establishment of the European Economic Community, which later became the EU.
Prime Minister Joseph Muscat held a tête-à-tête and bilateral meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the Auberge de Castille just prior to the summit.
In the meantime EU leaders who are members of the Socialist group yesterday met at the Labour Party’s headquarters in Hamrun before the summit proper.
To cover the most urgent funding needs now and throughout 2017, we welcome the Commission’s decision to mobilise as a first
€200 step an additional million for the North Africa window of the Fund and to give priority to migration-related projects concerning Libya.