The African Union (AU), European Union (EU) and United Nations (UN) are set to establish a task force in Libya to check migration.
The AU’s Moussa Faki Mahamat, EU Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker, its foreign affairs chief, Federica Mogherini and the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres met on Wednesday on the sidelines of the ongoing Africa – European Union summit in the Ivorian capital, Abidjan.
A joint press release said the EU-AU-UN Task Force aims “to save and protect lives of migrants and refugees along the routes and in particular inside Libya, accelerating the assisted voluntary returns to countries of origin, and the resettlement of those in need of international protection.
“This action will build on, expand and accelerate the ongoing work done by countries of origin, and the IOM, with EU funding, which allowed so far the voluntary return to their countries of origin of 13 000 migrants since January,” it added.
The work of the task force is to be coordinated with the recognised Libyan authorities with the main aim of checkmating trafficking and criminal networks. It will also help countries tackle the issues that lead to excessive migration through development and stability.
Omoleye Omoruyi… an apprentice web/game developer, novelist, sensitive to happenings in the world. Meet him @Lord_rickie on Twitter/Instagram
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