- Title: European Union agrees to help Libyan navy to stop traffickers
- Date: 23rd May 2016
- Summary: BRUSSELS, BELGIUM (MAY 23, 2016) (REUTERS) HAMMOND SPEAKING TO JOURNALISTS FRENCH FOREIGN MINISTER, JEAN-MARC AYRAULT, LEAVING POLISH FOREIGN MINISTER, WITOLD WASZCZYKOWSKI, LEAVING GERMAN EUROPE MINISTER, MICHAEL ROTH, LEAVING
- Embargoed: 7th June 2016 18:25
- Keywords: EU Libya foreign ministers navy migrants Tripoli smugglers Mogherini Philip Hammond
- Location: BRUSSELS, BELGIUM
- City: BRUSSELS, BELGIUM
- Country: Belgium
- Topics: Asylum/Immigration/Refugees,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA0054J15VLZ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: The European Union will help rebuild Libya's shattered navy and coastguard to tackle migrant smugglers after a plea for aid from the new U.N.-backed unity government in Tripoli, EU foreign ministers agreed on Monday (May 23).
U.N.-backed Libyan Prime Minister Fayez Seraj, who has yet to establish his government beyond Tripoli, wrote to EU Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini to request the naval support, as well as possibly training for Libyan security personnel.
Details of the aid are still to be worked out but Mogherini said the request would be followed up "very quickly."
The ministers said they would need a U.N. Security Council resolution to go after arms traffickers on the high seas, but Monday's meeting signalled they were determined to stop migrant smugglers by using the EU's "Operation Sophia" mission in the Mediterranean.
Libya is a major departure point for mainly sub-Saharan African migrants trying to reach Europe through crossings arranged by people smugglers, often in flimsy boats.
With calm summer weather approaching in the Mediterranean, Europe's governments are keen to avoid the migrant drownings of last year and to deter smugglers finding new routes into Europe after a deal between the European Union and Turkey cut trafficking across the Aegean Sea.
"The Libyan coastguard is the basis on which we have to build security in the coastal waters of Libya. We can provide training, we can provide equipment, we can provide additional technical support," British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond told reporters.
The Sophia mission operates in international waters near Libya, but is too far out to destroy boats used by people smugglers, catch traffickers or head off migrants trying to reach Europe by sea from Libya. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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