Former British ambassador to Libya, Peter Millett, who is chairman of the Libyan British Business Council, is now leading calls for Britain to follow Italy in downgrading warnings and alter the advice of travel to Libya to reflect the improvement in the security situation since 2020 when fighting came to an end after a ceasefire deal.
Millett told The National that after a recent visit, he wrote to the FCDO calling for the advice to be downgraded from red to orange, which advises against all but essential travel, in the cities of Tripoli, Misrata and Benghazi.
“That would be a more accurate and realistic reflection of the security situation on the ground, but it would also open up opportunities for more businesspeople to travel,” he said.
Millett said that what he described as the “out of date” advice meant that it’s difficult to obtain travel insurance to travel to Libya where there is an “appetite for doing business with British companies”.
"The opportunities we are trying to pursue are massive but many of our members are not able to travel and cite the travel advice as the reason. Travel insurance has been made “horribly expensive” as a result of the FCDO advice," he said.
“If you're a small and medium enterprise you probably can't afford the insurance and it's not worth it if you're not sure that you're going to get the business right. When we've organised our delegations, a number of our members have said that they are unable to travel because of the travel advice.” Millett added.
He added that Libya “desperately needs economic reform and investment” which can come about through access to expertise provided by British companies. He said that in his letter to the FCDO, he made the case that “the security risk is manageable” based on four trips he has made over the past two years with the LBBC.
“Now we’re not naive and we’re not saying everything is perfect,” said Millett, adding: "Of course, there are armed groups across the country and there is a risk of getting caught in a skirmish. But these are localised incidents, and the security trend is positive.”
FCDO has “strongly” advised against visiting Libya since 2014, warning that “the local security situation is fragile and could deteriorate rapidly.”
