Protesters demonstrate against "Slavery in Libya" on November 23, 2017,
outside the Libyan embassy in the Moroccan capital Rabat. EU and African
leaders have agreed to an emergency plan to dismantle people smuggling
networks and repatriate stranded migrants in Libya. AFP PHOTO | FADEL
SENNA
The European Union, United Nations and African Union have
agreed to an emergency plan to dismantle people smuggling networks and
repatriate stranded migrants in an effort to ease a human rights
disaster in Libya, officials said.
Details
of the strategy were negotiated at an African Union-European Union
summit that opened on Wednesday in Cote d'Ivoire, and the plan was
expected to be finalised on Thursday.
Images
broadcast by CNN earlier this month appearing to show migrants
auctioned off as slaves by Libyan traffickers has sparked outrage in
Europe and anger in Africa. It shone a light on abuses committed against
African migrants seeking to reach Europe, forcing the issue to the top
of the agenda of a summit meant to focus on Africa’s youth.
European
Council President Donald Tusk called the slavery reports “horrifying”
during the summit’s opening ceremony and said the issue of migration was
a joint responsibility of European and African governments.
French
President Emmanuel Macron said late on Wednesday that the plan included
the establishment of an “operational task-force” composed of European
and African police and intelligence services.
“The goal
will be in very short order to be able to arrest identified
traffickers, dismantle these networks and their financing which goes
through banks and payments that in the region contribute ... to
sustaining terrorism,” he said.
The plan emerged from a
meeting of UN officials, EU leaders and government representatives from
Chad, Niger, Morocco, Congo and Libya that was called by France on
Wednesday.
The European Union, African Union and United Nations agreed to asset freezes and financial sanctions on known smugglers.
Libya’s
government, which has promised to investigation reports of slave
auctions, agreed to grant UN agencies access to migrant camps in areas
under its control, German officials said.
EU countries
meanwhile agreed to finance the repatriation of migrants from Libya, a
process that is already being organised by the International
Organisation for Migration, they said.
Vulnerable
migrants that might eventually qualify for asylum will be brought to
Chad or Niger before being relocated to a third country either in Europe
or another region.
Rescue
Nigeria has already made a unilateral move to repatriate migrants, with 240 voluntarily flown home on Tuesday night.
Over 100 Ghanaians have also returned after their government secured a chartered flight to bring them home.
155 Ivoirians were have also been repatriated home.
-Additional reporting by BBC.
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