ROME, Sept. 15 (Xinhua) -- Italy will set up a logistical base to help Libya manage migration at its southern border, local media reported Friday.
The mission was agreed upon during a meeting in Rome of the Italy-Libya Committee chaired by Italian Interior Minister Marco Minniti, Ansa news agency said.
Participants included Libyan, Italian, European Union and United Nations delegates. The Libyan delegation "is aware of the efforts of the EU, which has allocated significant resources to stem the flow of migrants across the southern border, (and to) improve the socio-economic conditions of local communities," the Italian Interior Ministry said in a statement.
The planned logistical base will support Libyan border patrols and UN humanitarian agencies at the southern border, which Libya shares with Niger, Chad and Sudan.
People fleeing war and famine in sub-Saharan Africa pay human traffickers hefty sums to bring them across the desert to Libya, in hopes of boarding boats to Italy once they reach the Mediterranean coast. Once in Libya, the migrants end up in reportedly inhumane detention camps.
Also during the meeting, the International Organization on Migration (IOM) said it had helped over 7,300 migrants in Libya camps return to their home countries, and has committed to aiding in 15,000 to 20,000 voluntary repatriations by the end of this year.
The UN representatives said they have carried out 650 visits to Libyan migrant detention camps, obtaining the release so far of 1,000 people with legitimate political asylum claims. The UN plan is to get as many legitimate asylum seekers out of the camps as possible and to relocate them to European or non-European countries, including through family reunification.
The Libyan representatives believed their coastguard has rescued over 13,500 migrants at sea so far this year, and that there has been a 35 percent drop in migrant flows from Niger.
As of Sept. 15, a total of 128,863 migrants and refugees reached Europe by sea and 2,550 died or went missing in the attempt, the IOM tweeted Friday.
The lion's share, or 100,325 people, reached Italy and the rest where split between Greece and Spain, the IOM said. This compares to over 360,000 arrivals in southern Europe in the same period last year, according to the IOM.
The Italy-Libya Committee is tasked with implementing a Feb. 2 memorandum, which calls for Libya to detain migrants before they reach Italy, and for Italy and the EU to invest in Libya. Enditem
