[autom.vertaling] De delegatie van EP aan Libië (en)

"Our goal is to repatriate all illegal immigrants we receive from Italy", say Libyan authorities

A delegation ad hoc of six MEPs from the European Parliament met the Libyan authorities on Monday and Tuesday during a fact-finding mission on illegal immigration in the country. The Libyan authorities confirmed that the hundreds of illegal sub-Saharan migrants sent back to Tripoli by the Italian authorities in 2004 and 2005 have in most cases been repatriated to their countries of origin.

"Libya lacks organisation and strategy to deal with immigration problems. We need to see it as a common problem for the EU" said the head of the delegation Simon BUSUTTIL (EPP-ED, MT). "We want to send the Libyan authorities a very specific message: we are not here to point the finger at them or to ask them to police Europe's borders. We are here to seek cooperation on a common problem".

The EP mission was a follow-up to a resolution adopted last April when the Parliament asked for a delegation to be sent to the island of Lampedusa (Italy) and to Lybia. The stated goals of this week's mission involved verifying what happens to the illegal immigrants returned by Italy, evaluating the situation of those kept in Libyan detention centres and identifying practical ways of cooperating with Libya to manage migration flows.

During their first day in Tripoli, Libyan Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Mohammed Tahar Sila confirmed that all the illegal immigrants sent by Italy are repatriated to their countries of origin, although sometimes they hide their nationality to make this more difficult: "When illegal immigrants are returned to Libya, our mission is to contact the different embassies to verify their nationality and get them a travel visa. Afterwards we repatriate them to their country of origin. We are very happy that Italy cooperates with us by financing some of these return flights". He also explained that "Those whose nationality cannot be verified remain in our detention camps".

Detention centres

The EP delegation was invited to visit a detention centre in Tripoli and to interview eight of the 360 illegal immigrants detained there. Some of them had been caught in the sea when trying to reach the Italian coast, while others had entered Libya illegally looking for a job and were caught in the streets without a passport. At least two, of Ethiopian origin, said they had left their country for political or security reasons and were afraid to go back home. They were all awaiting repatriation. Helene FLAUTRE voiced concern that some of the people interviewed might be eligible for asylum and requested the centre's authorities to put them in contact with the UNCHR in Tripoli.

At a meeting with a group of experts on Tuesday, the Libyan director for immigration Brigadier Romali confirmed that Italy had financed the construction of a detention camp 20 kilometres from Tripoli and that two more centres were being promised by the Italian authorities in the near future. According to the Deputy Foreign Minister, Libya has a written cooperation agreement with Italy to fight illegal immigration and similar bilateral agreements are being negotiated with other EU Member States including France, Malta or Spain.  

Refugees

One of the main concerns for MEPs is that Libya is not a signatory to the Geneva Convention on Refugees. The national government does not officially recognise the existence of refugees or asylum seekers. However, MEPs stressed that the Libyan authorities have adopted a more cooperative tone since the last EP delegation visited Tripoli in April 2005. As a country of six million people of whom 1.5 million are immigrants, Libya now sees illegal immigration as a real problem which affects it, especially as a country of destination and a country of transit towards Europe. MEPs were told on Tuesday that a group of experts is working on a draft national law on refugees, which would be the first of its kind in Libya. The Interior Minister Nasr Mabruk Abdullah added in another meeting that "97% of the immigrants who cross Libya are here for economic reasons", though he admitted that the other 3% are people whose lives are at risk and who need special protection.

The EP delegation, composed of MEPs Simon Busuttil (EPP-ED, MT), Boguslaw Sonik (EPP-ED, PL), Pasqualina Napoletano (PES, IT), Wolfgang Kreissl-Dörfler (PES, DE), Helen Flautre (Greens/EFA, FR) and Francesco Speroni (IND/DEM, IT), also visited the port security services and had meetings with Foreign Minister Abdurrahman Shalgam and with Sulaiman Shahumi, Secretary for Foreign Affairs, at the General People's Congress.

05/12/2005

Subcommittee on Human Rights

Head of Delegation : Simon Busuttil (EPP-ED, MT)