EU urges Libya to boost cooperation against immigration

The European Union has urged Libya to boost cooperation in the fight against illegal immigration but the price Tripoli is asking is too high, EU Justice Commissioner Jacques Barrot has been reported as saying by libyanews.

"Libya is asking for funding and logistical means for the surveillance of its southern border," he said, after talks in Brussels with Libyan EU Ambassador Al Hadi Hadeiba.

Barrot said he wanted to keep open communication lines with Libya and had not ruled out going on a fact-finding mission. "The human traffickers must be stopped," he said.

He also underscored the need to step up maritime surveillance, through the bloc's border agency Frontex, but it remained unclear what should be done with those picked up.

"The Libyans tell us that these people come from other African countries with which they don't have any accords and so they cannot send them on," he said. He added that Tripoli estimated there were around two million people on Libyan territory who want to emigrate to Europe.

Meanwhile, Libyan Interior Minister Abdelfattah Yunis al-Obeidi has reportedly ordered stricter supervision of Libya's coastline as part of moves to curb illegal migration to Europe.

He called for "continued surveillance of Libyan beaches and setting up of control points in the zones from which illegal crossings to Europe are organised", the state news agency JANA reported.

"More stringent measures are needed against the people traffickers", he said, as well as controls on the movements of fishing boats and on workshops used to build the makeshift trawlers used for the trafficking.

In mid-May, Italy and Libya are due to launch joint sea patrols aimed at stopping the illegal traffic.