Libya unable to protect itself let alone Europe

Libyan Ambassador Saad El-Shelmani was reluctant to say whether his country was prepared to accept the repatriation of illegal immigrants from Malta, insisting that Libya itself was the biggest victim of the mass African exodus.

"We can't even protect ourselves, so how can we protect the rest of Europe," Dr El-Shelmani told The Times in an interview.

As scores of desperate migrants continue to land on the island, Malta is trying to put pressure on Libya to do its part to help stem the tide. The Libyan ambassador was summoned to an urgent meeting with Foreign Affairs Minister Michael Frendo last Monday and asked to inform his government that Malta was no longer in a position to accept irregular immigrants.

But Dr El-Shelmani appealed to Malta to realise the extent of the problem in his own homeland. An estimated 1.5 million asylum seekers have poured into Libya, most of them from its six bordering sub-Saharan countries, as they flee wars, persecution and poverty.

Libya, he said, was fully aware and sympathetic with Malta's problems.

The ambassador did not wish to commit himself on whether Libya was prepared to draw up a repatriation agreement with Malta, as it did with Italy. Admitting that there was no "straightforward" answer he would only say he is optimistic that some kind of agreement within international law is hammered out.

He said a technical team was working on the problem of migration and he hoped that a Foreign Affairs Ministry delegation visit to Tripoli next week will make inroads.

He would not speculate on possible repercussions if Malta decided to act unilaterally and dispatch immigrants back to Libya. He said, however, that every country should abide by international obligations.

Repatriation on its own would not solve the problem, he said, as one has to take into consideration the fate of such illegal immigrants.

"We have often been criticised by international human rights organisations for sending people back to their country of origin. It's a complex problem," Dr El-Shelmani said. The ambassador insisted there was no proof that the immigrants arriving in Malta were departing from specific Libyan ports, even if Home Affairs Minister Tonio Borg said last week that the illegal immigrants were leaving from Zouara and adjacent ports.

Neither was it just to point fingers at Libya when it was well known that some immigrants were departing on board large vessels from areas like the Red Sea and then transferred to smaller boats.

He admitted that most of Libya's efforts were centred around its land border in an attempt to stop African nationals from entering the country. This did not mean, however, that Libya was abandoning its surveillance of the coast.

"For every 100 immigrants that arrive here, I can assure you that another 1,000 are being stopped," he said.

"Libya is doing its utmost to stop the flow but everyone has to understand that we have limited resources to deal with the problem. We need resources - aircraft, patrol boats, human resources, you name it."

Though Libya might be considered a big country, one had to take into consideration that most of it is taken up by a desert and most immigrants invade cities like Tripoli and Benghazi, leading to problems related to jobs, health and crime.

"Even if we put every single Libyan citizen on patrol at the borders it is not enough. Whatever we do there will always be people that will slip through the net," Dr El-Shelmani said.

The solution lay in an urgent joint EU-African Union initiative. Illegal migration was an international problem and it therefore needed an international solution, the ambassador argued.

It was time for the EU and the African Union to join forces to infiltrate and halt the international human trafficking ring - a concerted drive he equated to the global fight against terrorism.

"Libya has done its part. We contributed financially to developing countries, we tried to intervene in solving wars, but it's clearly not enough. For this problem you can't clap with one hand."

But in true Libyan character, the ambassador forces a smile and said he is optimistic that a solution can be forthcoming. "We want to keep the good relations with Malta. But neighbours always have some sort of problem."