News Highlights: EU-Libya relations, upcoming Migration Summit, Eritrea visits Russia

In this week’s news highlights, we would like to update you on the latest developments and media coverage concerning the new EU Libya cooperation for reducing migration on the Central Mediterranean Route, in the run-up to the Summit on migration that will take place in Malta tomorrow (Friday 3 February).

Follow-up on Libya: critical voices
The European Union’s pushes ahead its controversial plans to finance camps for refugees and migrants in Africa. Aljazeera and RadioFreeEurope report that this is strongly supported by the German interior minister Thomas de Maiziere, who states that Libya is a “safe country”. In contrast, the video presented by Aljazeera shows the widespread mistreatment of refugees experiences in Libya.

Follow-up on Libya: Tusk paves the way for EU-Libya cooperation at Summit
President of European Council Donald Tusk also expresses his support about the EU-Libya cooperation in his invitation letter or the Malta Summit taking place this Friday, where European ministers and heads of state will discuss migration, especially the Central Mediterranean Route. Ahead of the Summit, High Representative Federica Mogherini published remarks on the additional measures.

Follow-up on Libya: cooperation launched
The cooperation with Libya was effectively set into practice this Monday with the second package of the Sophia Operation under which the Libyan Navy Coast Guard and Libyan Navy will receive training was launched. According to the European External Action Service the first operation led to the arrest of 101 smugglers and the rescue 32.081 migrants.

Follow-up on Libya: positive feedback from Libya
Libya’s UN-backed prime minister, Fayez al-Serraj, expressed his support for the EU’s plans and said that NATO or EU ships could be permitted to operate in Libyan waters alongside the national military coastguard, the Guardian reports. Cooperation with the Libyan coast guard could prove even more controversial, however, since intercepted migrants are taken to detention centers where conditions are “horrific”, according to a Dutch research report.

Migration compacts: misinformed strategy, academics say
The Dutch think tank Clingendeal concludes in its latest report on politics of irregular migration in the Sahel and Libya that current EU policies are misaligned with the reality of trans-Saharan migration as they do not take into account the diversity of intra-African migration.They also state that smuggling cannot be tackled without taking into account the  “extent to which state authorities are involved in and/or capable of controlling irregular migration”.

Migrations compacts: mislead by false data
The EU’s migration strategy is also misguided by the use of incorrect date,as Kristy Siegfried reports. According to new findings, the European Union used faulty figures recording a major decrease migrant movements from Niger to Libya and Algeria in its progress report on the Partnership Framework with Third Countries to defend its policy. Although the mistake had been recognised, it has not been corrected up until now.

Other news:

Eritrean delegation visits Russia
An Eritrean delegation led by foreign minister Osman visited Russia on invitation by the Russian government, the Eritrean government reports, in order to strengthen cooperation.

Reforming Dublin: nothing but disagreement
EU’s interior ministers last Thursday debated on the reform of the Dublin Regulation, which determines which member state is responsible for a person’s asylum application. However, it remains large disagreement about these reforms among the ministers.

Reforming Dublin: new means of punishment for EU member states
Ahead of the ministers’ meeting, EU parliamentarian Cecilia Wikstroem proposed to cut funds for member states who refuse to take their share of refugees and bring back the focus to the protection of unaccompanied minors.

Eritrea: Isaias Afwerki responds to migration crises
In his traditional New Year message, Isaias Afwerki blames German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande for the mass exodus of Eritrean refugees, according to him, caused by their financial support to Ethiopia. Afwerki described both leaders as being mentally disturbed.

 

The EEPA team