EU allocates €90 million to protect migrants in Libya

TMP – 02/05/2017

The European Union has allocated €90 million, through its Trust Fund for Africa, to enhance the protection of migrants and reinforce migration management in Libya.

The EU High Representative, Federica Mogherini, said: “For the European Union, Libya and the Libyans have been and stay a top priority. We are working to promote a political solution to the Libyan crisis and to support the Libyan authorities on the many challenges they have to face, including the managing of the migration flows.”

“The additional €90 million we adopt today are aimed at protecting and assisting migrants in the country, and the people who host them. Our aim remains cooperating in protecting lives, and promoting peace and stability in Libya. The European Union is doing its part and the Libyan authorities, all of them, have to do theirs,” she added.

Mogherini further added that the EU has already provided a package of support worth €120 million and is working to provide training and capacity building to the Libyan coast guard to save lives in the Mediterranean Sea.

The new programme addresses different aspects of the migration challenge in Libya and along the Central Mediterranean route. This includes stepping up the protection of migrants in Libya and improving the conditions for host communities and internally displaced persons. Voluntary return of migrants from Libya to their countries of origin will also be supported.

Activities will be implemented in the main areas of settlement or transit of migrants, such as the southern Libyan border, municipalities along the migratory routes and along the coastal area, and in areas where Libyans have been displaced and places to which internally displaced populations are returning.