The Trans-Mediterranean Migration Forum (TMMF), organized by the Government of National Unity, was launched Wednesday in the capital, Tripoli and a number of heads of governments, ministers and officials from African and European countries, in addition to the League of Arab States, participated in the forum.
Libyan Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah called for directing the funds spent to manage illegal immigration flows to finance development projects in the source countries, saying that the problem of immigration was troubling many countries and all African states wanted to communicate with the North, while many of them were going through "crises of need and famine, and Africa was suffering from colonialism, exploitation, and the plundering of its wealth over the past fifty years, which drived the African citizens to search for a living on a difficult, bumpy and dangerous road, sometimes ending in death, in the hope of reaching Europe."
The Libyan PM added that immigrants “first cross the desert from African countries, and many Africans die of thirst and hunger in this barren desert, and when they arrive in Libya they think about how to cross the Mediterranean, as many of them die in the sea, while few find themselves in a camp in one of the European countries".
"Europe uses many methods to prevent these people, and Africa pushes them in search of a good living, and we found ourselves amid pressure from the north and the south. The north spends, and we spend a lot of money, and Africans die either in the desert or the sea." Dbeibah said.
He added that "the money spent during the last 50 years did not solve this problem. The idea is simple: this money should go to the countries of origin for the immigrants, so that we can implement real projects that lead to the stability of the people of these countries in their region. This project is simple and we hope to establish an actual effort to solve this problem.”
