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ROME European Union officials reaffirmed the need to tackle Europe's migrant crisis in Libya and surrounding countries, amid continued resistance in Europe to welcome refugees.

Italy announced some $34 million in new investments aimed at preventing migrants from ever reaching or leaving Libya's lawless shores where smugglers operate. And EU interior ministers warned they might sanction migrants' home countries with visa restrictions if they refuse to take their people back when their European asylum bids fail.

Europe's migration crisis was on the agenda at two meetings Thursday: an informal EU-wide interior ministers meeting in Tallinn, Estonia, and a meeting in Rome of foreign ministers from Libya, surrounding African countries and selected European partners.

Amid mounting anti-immigrant sentiment across Europe, Italy has increased its complaints that it can no longer shoulder the burden of the migrant crisis alone. Faced with national elections later this year or next, the Italian government has recently threatened to close its ports to non-Italian flagged rescue ships in hopes of forcing other European countries to take migrants in.

In Rome, Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano said Italy was pledging 10 million euros to help Libya's southern neighbors Niger, Chad and Sudan better control their borders so migrants can't reach Libya. Another 18 million euros is slated for the voluntary repatriations of migrants who reach Libya and decide not to continue their journeys north.

"In order to lower the numbers leaving Libya, we have to lower the numbers entering," Alfano told a press conference.

In Tallinn, the interior ministers called for aid groups conducting rescue operations in the Mediterranean to follow a code of conduct, after prosecutors in Italy have accused some of complicity with Libyan-based smugglers.

The ministers also vowed to crack down on countries that refuse to take their nationals home when their asylum bids fail in Europe, including imposing limits to visa programs.

And they promised to "enhance the capacity of the Libyan coast guard," to better patrol its coasts and turn back migrant boats, despite renewed criticism from Amnesty International that such a policy is "reckless" given Libya's lawlessness.

On the eve of the meeting, the human rights group said the turnback policy risked victimizing desperate migrants even more since they risk grave human rights abuses once returned to Libya and trapped there.

More than 2,000 migrants to Europe have died at sea so far this year while over 73,380 have reached Italy. By year's end, the number of arrivals is expected to match or exceed the 181,400 who made it in 2016, which was more than in the two previous years, the report said.

Amnesty said it was "deeply problematic" to unconditionally fund and train Libya, where human rights are lacking and the coast guard has been known for violence and even smuggling.

The group cited an August incident off Libya's coast in which attackers shot at a Doctors Without Borders rescue boat. A U.N panel of experts on Libya later confirmed that two officers from a coast guard faction were involved.

In May, the Libyan coast guard intervened in a search-and-rescue operation another non-governmental organization was performing. The coast guard officers threatened migrants with weapons, took command of their wooden boat and took it back to Libya, Amnesty reported.

Amnesty is not alone in its concern.

The search-and-rescue director for Save the Children, Rob MacGillivray, said in a statement that rescued migrants have recounted horrors from Libya, including claims of sexual assaults, sales to others for work and whippings and electrical shocks in detention centers.

"Simply pushing desperate people back to Libya, which many describe as hell, is not a solution," MacGillivray said.

EU Migration Commissioner Dimitri Avramopoulos conceded at a recent news conference in Paris that the EU is drawing on a country in "very precarious conditions." (AP)

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EU leaders reaffirm Libya migrant policy despite criticism - The Philadelphia Tribune

In a television address Wednesday paying homage to a caravan of martyrs who fell in the recent battle for Benghazi, the former Gen. Haftar declared: After a continuous struggle against terrorism and its agents that lasted more than three years Today Benghazi enters a new era of peace, security, reconciliation and reconstruction, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Aid from Russia has fueled the growing strength of Gen. Haftar, who reportedly reached an agreement allowing him to run for president of Libya next year, under apact with the current LibyanPrime Minister Fayez al-Serraj.This year, American Marine Gen. Thomas Waldhauser, the chief of U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), told reporters that Russia is fomenting instability and worsening the deteriorating political condition of the country. While Moscow lends financial and military support to Gen. Haftars faction that controls eastern Libya, the United States is backing the United Nations-sanctioned Government of National Accord (GNA).

Gen. Haftar declared war on the fighters controlling Benghazi in 2014, three years after the 2011 U.S.-backed overthrow of Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi and his subsequent execution.

The ruthless Benghazi-based al-Qaeda affiliate Ansar al-Sharia in Libya (ASL) is responsible for the Sept. 11, 2012,attack on an American diplomatic compound that killed four Americans: U.S. Ambassador to Libya J. Christopher Stevens, U.S. Foreign Service Information Management Officer Sean Smith, and CIA contractors Tyrone S. Woods and Glen Doherty.

However, recent heavy losses have decimated ASL leadership and wiped out its fighters, prompting ASL to announce in May it is disbanding, a claim that has yet to materialize.

As in the past, ASLs demise may allow the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) to regroup in Libya, once the groups largest bastion outside Iraq and Syria. ASL reportedly helped ISIS establish its branch in the past, possibly as a means to stay alive a relevant a wing of the ruthless Islamic State.

Benghazi remains ASLs main stronghold. At the peak of its power, Ansar al-Sharia was present in Benghazi and Derna in eastern Syria, with offshoots in the coast city of Sirte and Sabratha in western Libya.

Libya became a breeding ground for jihadists group after the 2011 removal of Gaddafi.

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See the original post here:
Libya: Russia-Backed Khalifa Haftar Declares Benghazi 'Liberated' from Jihadists - Breitbart News

OPEC is considering putting a limit on how much oil members Nigeria and Libya can pump, cartel delegates say, as surging production from those countries is complicating the cartels plans to influence crude prices.

Libyas crude-oil output has surged to over one million barrels a day, up from 400,000 in October, while Nigerias output has risen to 1.6 million barrels a day, up 200,000 barrels a day since October, according to JBC, a Vienna-based energy-industry consultancy.

Those increases have unnerved the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, the 14-nation cartel that joined forces last year with Russia and other big non-OPEC producers in an agreement to withhold almost 1.8 million barrels of oil CLQ7, -2.61% LCOU7, -2.41% from market every day. Libya and Nigeria were exempted from the obligation to cut because their industries had been crippled by civil unrest.

Nigeria is definitely becoming a worry for us, said a delegate to OPEC from a Persian Gulf Arab country. OPEC delegates from several other countries echoed his concerns.

An expanded version of this report is on WSJ.com.

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OPEC mulls oil production caps for Libya, Nigeria - MarketWatch

Rome - European Union officials on Thursday reaffirmed the need to tackle Europe's migrant crisis in Libya and surrounding countries, amid continued resistance in Europe to welcome refugees.

Italy announced some $34m in new investments aimed at preventing migrants from ever reaching or leaving Libya's lawless shores where smugglers operate.

And EU interior ministers warned they might sanction migrants' home countries with visa restrictions if they refuse to take their people back when their European asylum bids fail.

Europe's migration crisis was on the agenda at two meetings on Thursday: an informal EU-wide interior ministers meeting in Tallinn, Estonia, and a meeting in Rome of foreign ministers from Libya, surrounding African countries and selected European partners.

Amid mounting anti-immigrant sentiment across Europe, Italy has increased its complaints that it can no longer shoulder the burden of the migrant crisis alone.

Faced with national elections later this year or next, the Italian government has recently threatened to close its ports to non-Italian flagged rescue ships in hopes of forcing other European countries to take migrants in.

In Rome, Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano said Italy was pledging 10 million euros to help Libya's southern neighbors - Niger, Chad and Sudan - better control their borders so migrants can't reach Libya.

Another 18 million euros is slated for the voluntary repatriations of migrants who reach Libya and decide not to continue their journeys north.

"In order to lower the numbers leaving Libya, we have to lower the numbers entering," Alfano told a press conference.

In Tallinn, the interior ministers called for aid groups conducting rescue operations in the Mediterranean to follow a code of conduct, after prosecutors in Italy have accused some of complicity with Libyan-based smugglers.

The ministers also vowed to crack down on countries that refuse to take their nationals home when their asylum bids fail in Europe, including imposing limits to visa programs.

And they promised to "enhance the capacity of the Libyan coast guard," to better patrol its coasts and turn back migrant boats, despite renewed criticism from Amnesty International that such a policy is "reckless" given Libya's lawlessness.

On the eve of the meeting, the human rights group said the turnback policy risked victimizing desperate migrants even more since they risk grave human rights abuses once returned to Libya and trapped there.

More than 2 000 migrants to Europe have died at sea so far this year while over 73 380 have reached Italy. By year's end, the number of arrivals is expected to match or exceed the 181 400 who made it in 2016, which was more than in the two previous years, the report said.

Amnesty said it was "deeply problematic" to unconditionally fund and train Libya, where human rights are lacking and the coast guard has been known for violence and even smuggling.

The group cited an August incident off Libya's coast in which attackers shot at a Doctors Without Borders rescue boat. A UN panel of experts on Libya later confirmed that two officers from a coast guard faction were involved.

In May, the Libyan coast guard intervened in a search-and-rescue operation another non-governmental organization was performing. The coast guard officers threatened migrants with weapons, took command of their wooden boat and took it back to Libya, Amnesty reported.

Amnesty is not alone in its concern.

The search-and-rescue director for Save the Children, Rob MacGillivray, said in a statement that rescued migrants have recounted horrors from Libya, including claims of sexual assaults, sales to others for work and whippings and electrical shocks in detention centres.

"Simply pushing desperate people back to Libya, which many describe as hell, is not a solution," MacGillivray said.

EU Migration Commissioner Dimitri Avramopoulos conceded at a recent news conference in Paris that the EU is drawing on a country in "very precarious conditions."

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EU leaders reaffirm Libya migrant policy despite criticism - News24

Wed, Jul 5, 2017, 19:19 Updated: Wed, Jul 5, 2017, 19:31

European leaders must open safe and legal routes for refugees and migrants crossing the Mediterranean rather than ignoring abuse perpetuated by Libyan forces, an Irish doctor has warned.

European Union-led attempts to stop refugees crossing the Mediterranean through collaboration with Libyan authorities would only fuel the smuggling industry, said Dr Conor Kenny.

The Sligo-born doctor has spent three months this year working on board the Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) search and rescue vessel MV Aquarius, in the Mediterranean.

The vast majority of injuries suffered by migrants that he has treated while on board the rescue ship were the result of abuse and torture in Libyan detention centres, he declared.

I havent been to Libya but these peoples stories are corroborated in rescue upon rescue. Its clear these abuses are happening. Many are beaten in detention centres and some are shot. They say they would rather die at sea than go back to Libya.

When I see dead bodies floating on a Wednesday afternoon in the calm Mediterranean sea, I just think we need a proper approach to save these lives. The work of NGOs in the Mediterranean is important but we are not the solution to this problem.

Dr Kenny was working as a doctor in Kings College Hospital before he began his three-month placement on board the MSF rescue vessel in February 2017. Id seen the rubber boats in the news but when you actually see it in person, you cannot describe how vulnerable these people are. Ill never forget the smell of fuel from the boats and how under-nourished the people looked.

Once particular rescue from late March remains etched in Dr Kennys mind. The Aquarius, which was floating in international waters about 12 nautical miles from the Libyan coast, spotted a boat full of people at about midnight. By 2.30am, three more boats had arrived each carrying about 120 people. A woman in her 20s who had suffered a heart attack was brought on board the MSF ship.

We tried to resuscitate her. The skin on the right side of her face had dissolved in the fuel and she was burned down the right side of her body. She had drowned in the gasoline in her rubber boat. She did not drown at sea.

Working with a small team of two nurses and one midwife, Dr Kenny had to prioritise which patients required emergency treatment. The majority of people are pale or exhausted. Many collapse due to hypothermia, lack of food or just sheer exhaustion after the incredible journey they have undertaken.

Once people have settled on the boat a sense of relief takes over. There are different cultures mixing and often they create music, song or dance. Its a beautiful thing to see. But when we get to port the mood changes again. People are scared. They dont know whats ahead of them.

Amnesty International also criticised European leaders this week for shamelessly prioritising reckless deals with Libya and ceding the lions share of responsibility for search and rescue to NGOs.

Interceptions by the Libyan coastguard often put refugees and migrants at even greater risk with reports that the coastguard was directly involved in the sinking of migrant boats using firearms, warned Amnestys report into the failure of European policies in the Mediterranean. It said refugees trapped in Libya were vulnerable to abuses including killings, torture, rape, kidnappings, forced labour and detention in cruel, inhuman and degrading conditions.

Speaking ahead of Thursdays meeting of EU ministers in Tallinn, Estonia on measures to stem migration to Europe, Amnesty director John Dalhuisen warned that 2017 was on track to become the deadliest year for the deadliest migration route in the world.

According to the latest data from the UN Refugee Agency, 98,185 people have arrived in Europe via the Mediterranean so far this year. Some 2,257 people have died or gone missing during the crossing since the start of 2017. A total of 362,753 people arrived in Europe by sea in 2016.

Read more:
EU leaders turning blind eye to 'torture' of migrants in Libya - Irish Times