LibyaSociety

France to grant Libya 6 boats to support anti-migration efforts

France will deliver to the Libyan navy six fast boats that would contribute to the fight against illegal migration, the French Ministry of Defense announced on Friday.

France’s commitment to provide Libya these boats to help the North African country to handle the flows of illegal migrants to Italy and Europe was mentioned earlier during a meeting between the French Minister of the Armed Forces, Florence Parly, and the Head of the Libyan Presidency Council, Faiez al-Sarraj, on the sidelines of the security conference in Munich.

Parly has “announced the sale of six vessels to Libya which will be delivered next spring,” Yasmine-Eva Fares-Emery, the ministry spokesperson said.

Libyan authorities are responsible for patrolling the Mediterranean Sea and taking in people rescued there, under a migration agreement between Italy and Libya designed to reduce the number of crossings from North Africa to southern Europe.

Libya is a major transit point to Europe for those fleeing poverty and civil war elsewhere in Africa. Traffickers have exploited Libya’s chaos following the country’s 2011 uprising.

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