Migration: UN extends authorization of inspections of suspicious vessels from Libya

If the Covid pandemic has reduced the arrival of migrants in Europe from the Mediterranean basin by 30%, this sea remains a hotspot for migrant smuggling.

PAU BARRENA / AFP

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2 min

The UN Security Council on Friday renewed the resolution authorizing member states to inspect ships off the Libyan coast as soon as they suspect human trafficking.

This device has only been put in place by the European Union for the moment.

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With our correspondent in New York,

Carrie Nooten

If the first objective of

the European military operation Irini

is the control of the arms embargo in Libya, the European soldiers also have the mission of exposing human trafficking off the Libyan coast.

They will therefore be able to do it for another year.

Increase in departures from Libya

For the countries of the European Union, very tense on immigration issues, this is an important issue.

Since if the Covid pandemic has reduced the arrival of migrants in Europe from the Mediterranean basin by 30%, this sea remains a hotspot for migrant smuggling.

Departures from Libya have sharply increased, according to a report by the UN Secretary General.

The outbreak of fighting forced 9,500 Libyans and Sudanese to flee between March 1 and July 31, compared to 6,600 over the same period last year.

With a refugee paying a smuggler between 500 and 1,500 euros, the traffickers' profits potentially increased by 4 million euros.

Yet often, they do not even take migrants to European shores and abandon them in the middle of the water.

It was to disrupt networks that the Security Council made inspections possible five years ago.

For the moment, only the European Union exercises this authorization.

►Also read: Africa: the trauma of migrants who crossed the Sahara

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  • Libya

  • UN

  • European Union

  • International Migration

  • Immigration

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