Friday 3 February, European leaders meet at the informal summit in Valletta, Malta, to discuss migration. The meeting is focused specifically on halting migration along the Central Mediterranean Route, with Libya as its focal point. In a joint statement, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) urging the EU to not consider Libya a safe third country. The humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) warned the EU about an inhumane approach to migration.
A joint statement by UNHCR and IOM on Thursday 2 February called upon the EU leaders meeting in Malta to address the loss of life along migration routes and the deplorable conditions for refugees and migrants in Libya. The EU is moving ahead on plans to prevent migrants and refugees from crossing, instead bringing them back to Libya to be processed there. However, IOM and UNHCR warn of the security constraints that continue to hinder humanitarian work in Libya and that it is currently “not appropriate to consider Libya a safe third country nor to establish extraterritorial processing of asylum-seekers in North Africa.”
Instead, the UNHCR and IOM urge the EU to put more sustainable migration and protection measures in place, “when the security and political situation permits.” According to the organisations, this means open reception centers with dignified conditions and proper security safeguards. However, first the situation has to improve in Libya and in other African countries and serious capacity building is needed, the organisations say.
MSF is similarly critical of the route that the EU is taking to manage migration. MSF expressed grave concerns over the fate of those that would become trapped in Libya or would be returned to the country if the EU were to close the Central Mediterranean Route. General Director of MSF, Arjan Hehenkamp, said: “The European Union and its Member States need a reality check. Libya is not a safe place – there is no way that this can be considered a humane approach to migration management.” MSF cites the arbitrary detainment of refugees and migrants in inhumane conditions in Libya. Some, according to Mr Hehenkamp, were held for months without access to legal processes or ways to contact the outside world. Problems in the detention centers include overcrowding, lack of access to food, lack of access to medical care and unsanitary conditions.
MSF accuses the EU of misrepresenting the situation in Libya. Currently, according the organisation, it is impossible to process people seeking international protection in accordance with refugee laws.
The European Council will held a press conference later today, 3 February 2017, and announce it decision concerning the EU Libya cooperation. The press conference can be followed here at 4pm: European Council, Press Conference
Another press conference will be given on Monday, 6 February 2017, by the Foreign Affairs Council also addressing the reduction of refugees along the Central Mediterranean route. You can follow it here: Foreign Affairs Council, Press conference
For the full statement of UNHCR and IOM, click here.
For the full comments of MSF, click here.
Click here to read the UN report on detention centers in Libya, “Detained and Dehumanised”