The Head of the Presidential Council in Libya, Fayez Al-Sirraj, has told reporters that Libya is now home to about 800.000 illegal immigrants, explaining that only 20.000 of them are inside government-run detention centers.
In a joint press conference on Monday with the President of Austria, Alexander Van der Bellen, in Vienna, Al-Sirraj stressed that the illegal immigration issue is as upsetting to Libya as it is to Europe, adding that any solutions should be based on resolving humanitarian and social backgrounds of the motive to immigrate for all those people and handle it in their countries of origin.
"It's true that we have in Libya some internal disputes, yet we must all cooperate to end such problems so we can operate better for all Libyans." Al-Sirraj added.
Talking about elections, Al-Sirraj told reporters that his government is working on holding transparent and democratic elections, hailing the efforts of UNSMIL and its Head Ghassan Salame in this regard.
Austria's President, on the other hand, said his country is in full support for stability in Libya, reaffirming the need for the European Union's role to help Libya terminate the terrorist threats and build a strong civilian state.