Libya has 2.5 million migrants on its soil, more than a third of its population.

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It was during a press conference on July 10, 2024 that the Minister of the Interior of the National Union government led by Abdelhamid Dbeibah spoke about the repercussions of illegal migration on the LibyaAn event organized on the occasion of the preparation of an International Forum on Migration in the Mediterranean which will take place in Tripoli on July 17.

Libya has 7 million citizens and, according to the minister, 2.5 million migrants, 70% to 80% of whom are in an irregular situation.

Imad Trabelsi, the Libyan Interior Minister, sounded the alarm by reaffirming that a permanent settlement of these migrants in Libya ” unacceptable “Libya is struggling to find solutions to the migration problem, in order to regulate their presence on the territory,” he said. This is a matter of our national security. ” he warned.

Smugglers and traffickers have taken advantage of the climate of instability that has reigned in Libya since 2011 to develop their network and transport even more migrants to Europe. Because this migration had been controlled under the former regime of Muammar Gaddafi: sub-Saharan migrants came there mainly to work, while currently the majority are in transit.

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Since the agreements reached with the European Union, which is seeking to stem the arrival of migrants leaving the Libyan coast, The country’s coast guard has been intercepting migrants at sea since 2017 and returning them to LibyaThey are then placed in detention camps where they are victims of multiple abuses. A situation denounced by international human rights NGOs.

Thousands of people, mostly sub-Saharans, are stranded in Libya. Thousands more die every year crossing the Mediterranean.

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