The Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, and Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah inaugurated in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, the work of the second regional review conference of the Global Compact for safe, orderly and legal immigration in the Arab region.
Aboul Gheit welcomed the Prime Minister, stressing the importance of the immigration file and its handling in the League of Arab States, given that a number of Arab countries are considered transit countries, stressing the need to unify efforts regarding this file.
While Dbeibah stressed Libya’s reservations about the Global Compact on Migration, which was approved by the United Nations General Assembly session in 2018, as it aimed to legitimize illegal immigration, mix concepts between refugees and immigrants, as well as to distinguish between countries of source, transit, and origin.
The Prime Minister referred to the efforts made by the Government of National Unity to reduce illegal immigration and coordinate with the affected regional and European countries to develop a strategy to regulate this issue.
Dbeibah noted that Libya will host, on the 17th of this July, the Trans-Mediterranean Migration Forum, which aims to discuss illegal immigration and issue an initiative to be drafted by the concerned countries, saying that it's going to be based on the principle of respect and cooperation through national laws and policies, as well as the establishment of a strategic framework that enhances dialogue and cooperation between Africa and Europe.
The conference was attended by the Director-General of the International Organization for Migration, the Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, and the Executive Secretariat of the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, with the participation of relevant international and regional organizations and representatives of Arab countries in the League of Arab States.
