Rome hosted Thursday a meeting of the interior ministers of Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, and Italy, where they discussed issues related to managing illegal flows of immigrants and adopting a comprehensive approach to combating the phenomenon.
Libyan Minister of the Interior Minister Emad Al-Trabelsi, Italian Matteo Piantedosi, Algerian Brahim Merad, and Tunisian Kamel Feki, in the presence of the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Edmund Cirielli, who is responsible for Italian development cooperation strategies, according to the Italian Nova agency.
A post by the Ministry of the Interior on Facebook explained that security officials participated in the coordination meeting, to discuss cooperation on the issues of borders and illegal immigration. It added that the meeting aims to unify visions and adopt a comprehensive approach to combating illegal immigration, taking into account the interests of source, transit and destination countries, as well as setting broad lines to combat this phenomenon.
During the meeting, the Italian Minister said in order to reduce illegal immigration flows, "we must have the ambition to move from bilateral cooperation to a strategic regional approach, which can lead to a reduction in illegal flows."
The Italian Minister of the Interior stressed that “our strategic priority must be to work to strengthen the stability of land borders, starting with the Sahel region,” according to Nova.
The meeting saw discussions on strengthening the strategy for assisting voluntary repatriation thanks to the control room that would meet in the next few days, and exchanging information to combat the criminal networks that manage human trafficking, according to the Italian Ministry of the Interior.
Italy and other member states in the European Union are working to limit the number of immigrants crossing the border from North Africa, and are providing funds or equipment to Libya and Tunisia to stop the departure of immigrants from their shores.
