By Jamie Prentis.
Tunis, 22 May 2017:
Reception centres for migrants are to be set up in Chad and Niger in an effort to fight illegal immigration through Libya and across the Mediterranean to Italy.
The agreement came during a Rome mini-summit yesterday attended by the interior ministers of Niger and Chad and the Presidency Council’s interior minister Arif Khoja and hosted by Italian interior minister Marco Minniti.
It is part of wider Italian attempts to prevent the movement of migrants to Europe, most of who end up arriving in Italy.
Under the deal Italy will pay for the centres. The four ministers also agreed to:
- Cooperate in the fight against terrorism and human trafficking;
- Improve border security by establishing a network of contact between the border control forces.
- Support the creation of a legal economy in the border areas rather than one dependent on trafficking.
Tomorrow, Tuesday, migration through Libya will be one of the main topics on the agenda at the ‘Libya Quartet’ meet in Brussels. The quartet consists of the African Union, the European Union, the Arab League and the United Nations.
