The Head of the UN Migration Agency, William Swing, has appealed to Libyan authorities to stop detaining migrants intercepted or rescued at sea by the Coast Guard after trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe.
The appeal came as the International Organization for Migration, IOM, commended the anti-smuggler operations stepped up by the Libyan government. The IOM notes that the number of migrants rescued in Libya’s territorial waters and brought back to shore with the support of the European Union has greatly increased.
The IOM spokesman, Leonard Doyle, said that in the past month alone, the Libyan coast guard intercepted nearly 4,000 migrants.
Mr. Doyle said that despite the organization’s reservation about human rights violations, there appeared to be clear signs that the Libyan coastguards to redouble their efforts towards saving lives. He said the IOM appreciated the desire of Libyan officials to get the North African country’s migration policy fall in line with the mainstream, that is international best practices
The Head of the IOM paid a two-day visit to Libya where he described the country’s immigration policy as cruel and appealed to the authorities to stop locking up migrants who had already suffered untold hardship in their desperate efforts to reach Europe. Mr. Doyle said so far the appeal seems to be receiving due attention.
According to him, one of the ways the Libyan authorities are toeing the line is by trying to speed up their repatriation policy. The IOM has thrown its support in that direction, allowing the officials to carry out voluntary repatriation and voluntary return of stranded migrants from Libya on humanitarian conditions. The IOM admitted that the process would be slow because the migrants have no valid papers and documents, especially as all the African embassies in Libya are poorly staffed and working at low capacity.
The IOM spokesman is however optimistic that once the documentation process is completed it will become easier to embark on the repatriation of the migrants. Mr. Doyle has assured that the IOM has a charter flight in Tripoli which leaves for a destination in Africa at least once a day. The idea is to ensure that documented migrants who want to return home voluntarily are not delayed any further.
