Ahead of the Trans-Mediterranean Migration Forum (TMMF) to be held in Tripoli on 17 July, Acting Interior Minister Emad Trabelsi held a press conference at the Ministry’s Tripoli headquarters today. During this conference he set out the Tripoli based Libyan government’s stance on the issue.
Trabelsi said the idea behind holding the Trans-Mediterranean Migration Forum in Tripoli is for Libya to be the owner of the project.
He said Tripoli’s policy is to establish four lines of defence to reduce irregular migration at the borders, desert, cities and sea.
The Acting Interior Minister said his government has agreed to encourage the voluntary return of migrants with the European Union, adding that the Tripoli government will not use the immigration file politically.
It is time to solve the migration issue and Libya will not continue to pay the price for this issue, he demanded.
He revealed that there are 20,000 immigrants in the southern eastern desert town of Kufra, adding that the southern border must be secured to control the main routes of irregular migration.
Trabelsi said his ministry had prepared 5,000 police officers for security work over a period of 30 days to help secure the borders.
The Acting Interior Minister warned that the resettlement of immigrants in Libya is unacceptable.
The number of foreigners in Libya is estimated at 2.5 million, most of them entered Libya across the border without visas. The illegal immigration file is a national security file, he concluded.
