The Minister of Interior of the Government of National Unity, Emad Al-Trabelsi, called for serious international support to combat illegal immigration, warning of the cessation of cooperation with non-governmental organizations if countries do not deal seriously with the immigration issue.
During the Trans-Mediterranean Migration Forum in Tripoli, Al-Trabelsi confirmed that cooperation with the Maltese Interior Minister contributed to reducing the flow of migrants to Malta, noting that closing the border with Tunisia also contributed to reducing the number of migrants from Tunisia to Italy.
He considered the accumulation of migrants who were returned from the sea to Libya as resettlement, and revealed that approximately 2.5 million migrants had entered Libya, with the number expected to rise to 3 million in official statistics.
Al-Trabelsi called for supporting the anti-immigration agency and the border guards to carry out their tasks, noting that Libya spent $330 million on combating migration last year, while it received only 30 million euros in international support.
He confirmed that he had not received any official or unofficial request from European countries to settle migrants inside Libya, noting the rejection of this matter by civil society organizations. He also expressed Libya's readiness to continue the voluntary return program for migrants in cooperation with Italy and Malta, revealing the voluntary return of 6,000 migrants during 2024 so far.
Al-Trabelsi stressed the importance of providing logistical support to facilitate the return of migrants, calling for providing aircraft and their subsistence expenses instead of paying money.
The Minister of State for Communication and Political Affairs in the Government of National Unity, Walid Al-Lafi, had indicated that “the numbers estimate migrants departing from Libya exceed 40% of the total migration on average."
