Meloni visits Libya for migration talks with Dbeibah

Giorgia Meloni, the Italian prime minister, traveled to Libya on Wednesday to participate in a migration forum hosted by Libyan Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah.

Libya has become a key transit point for migrants escaping conflict and poverty in Africa and the Middle East en route to Europe.

Meloni explained, “if we look at what has happened in Italy in recent years, we were unable to allow many people to enter legally due to the high number of irregular immigrants.”

Migrants who reach the coast pay to board overcrowded and poorly equipped ships before embarking on dangerous sea crossings.

Italy serves as a major arrival point on the opposite side of the Mediterranean.

“In order to promote legal migration, my government has increased the number of quotas for the past three years, especially for countries that assist us in fighting against human traffickers,” Meloni concluded,

The United Nations reports an increase in migrants and refugees in Africa moving northward towards the Mediterranean and Europe, facing perilous routes through the Sahara where criminal groups subject them to various abuses.

A recent report by the U.N. refugee and migration agencies, along with the Mixed Migration Centre research group, revealed that land routes in Africa are twice as deadly as sea routes across the Mediterranean, which is already the most dangerous maritime path for migrants globally.

In March, authorities uncovered a mass grave in western Libya containing the remains of at least 65 migrants.

Meloni’s right-wing government in Italy has prioritized curbing migration by signing agreements with African nations to prevent departures, restricting the activities of humanitarian rescue vessels, targeting traffickers who reach Italy, and implementing other measures to discourage potential migrants from embarking on their journeys.

Additional sources • Other agencies