The official spokesperson for the naval forces of the Government of National Accord (GNA), Ayoub Qassem, criticized the international organizations affiliated to the United Nations for “abandoning their duties” towards Libya regarding illegal migration.
Those organizations, which basically deal with illegal migrants, do not provide sufficient support to Libya to combat the phenomenon of illegal migration while the GNA naval patrols continue their efforts in the search for and rescue of migrants in the Mediterranean with the least available resources, Qassem said in a statement to the Russian news agency Sputnik on Friday.
Several organizations, such as the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, receive support from the United Nations and the European Union with the aim to assist Libya in the fight against illegal migration, but they actually do not provide any kind of support, he claimed.
Libya’s western coast has become the main departure point for migrants especially since the country dove into chaos with the toppling of Muammar Qaddafi in 2011.
According to the IOM, 2,297 migrants died or went missing in the Mediterranean last year out of a total of 116,959 people who reached Europe by sea.
Improved weather conditions have increased the flows towards Europe.
The coast guard has stepped up patrols after receiving new boats from Italy as part of efforts by the far-right government there to stop migrants reaching Italian shores from Africa.
