Interior Minister of the Government of the National Accord (GNA) Fathi Basha and German Deputy Foreign Minister Walter Lindner discussed on Wednesday means to promote bilateral relations in security training.
During their meeting at the Interior Ministry’s headquarters in Tripoli, Lindner expressed his country’s willingness to exchange expertise and help Libya build strong security forces, train them and combat illegal immigration.
Germany is considered the largest foreign aid donor to Libya with €233 million given by Berlin over the past year to support a variety of projects in the country in several fields, including education, culture, media, civil society, demining, mainly in Sirte, and the support of migrants and internally displaced people.
As part of its donation, €1 million was granted to Libya to fund the needs of the High National Elections Commission to prepare for elections.
“Quite simply, as an EU state, Libya is our immediate neighbour,” he said in an interview with the Libya Herald, an independent Libyan online daily, on Germany’s policies on Libya and its willingness to help reconstruct it.
In December 2017, German Chancellor Angela Merkel pledged greater support for Libya’s U.N.-backed GNA and called for closer cooperation in addressing the refugee crisis.
Thousands of people continue to cross Africa’s Sahel into Libya and across the Central Mediterranean to Europe, driven by despair they face in their home countries.
With being unable to enter Europe, namely Italy, due to the European Union’s migration policy or being rescued at the Mediterranean by the EU-backed Libyan Coast Guard, hundreds of migrants and refugees have returned to Libya and were trapped in inhumane detention centers. On top of their suffering, they cause serious problems in Libya including the spread of diseases such as AIDS/HIV.
“We do not want a Libya that becomes a plaything for international interests,” Merkel stressed at a joint news conference with Faiez al-Sarraj, head of the GNA.
She expressed her concern over the poor living conditions of over 500,000 undocumented migrants in Libya.
