Posted on 07/29/2017 7:24:10 AM PDT by Lorianne
Sending Italian naval units to help Libya's coast guard could prove to be a "turning point" in efforts to stop traffickers from sending hundreds of thousands of migrants toward Italy's southern shores, Premier Paolo Gentiloni said Thursday.
With the foundering of a European Union plan to redistribute thousands of migrants rescued at sea and brought to Italy, Gentiloni said his center-left government would brief lawmakers next week about Libya's request for Italian navy vessels to patrol its Mediterranean shores.
Libyan Prime Minister Fayez Serraj, who leads a U.N.-backed unity government based in Tripoli, met in Rome with the Italian leader on Wednesday and asked for the assistance. Gentiloni said his government was working out the details of a proposed naval mission.
"The request that came to us from the Tripoli government for collaboration and assistance for the Libyan coast guard can be a turning point in handling the situation," Gentiloni said. "The fact that the Libyan authorities ask Italy to collaborate, and not to substitute, (in the role of) fighting traffickers is important."
The premier noted that Italy already has furnished Libya's coast guard with speedboats and training aimed at improving Libya's own patrols. Traffickers, exploiting widespread lawlessness in the violence-wracked, fractured north African nation, have sent hundreds of thousands of migrants in unseaworthy smuggling boats toward Italy over the last few years.
Lately, most of those rescued at sea have been economic migrants from African nations unlikely to win asylum.
Italy has acknowledged the problem of might happen to migrants who are prevented from reaching Italy and returned to Libya. Rescued migrants have told Italian authorities and humanitarian organizations about torture, rape, forced labor, beatings and other atrocities they suffered in Libyan camps while awaiting their turn to be smuggled out by sea.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
That’s a good idea, if Libya has much government structure still remaining, and if they will listen to foreigners.
Libya appears to be a failed state, but unlike as with Somalia, another failed state, it is due to the constant erosion of unending wars, not incompetent or absent management.
shutting the barn door after the horse got out...
yeah that’ll work...
Finally, something. Unfortunately, far too late.
Its incredible how this was all deliberately set in motion by the destruction of Libya.(Kaddafi)
The precursor to that was Bush One’s adventure in Somalia.
Rape away!!!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.