Updated | Robert Abela in Tripoli: Malta, Libya agree on coordination units to tackle migration

First official visit abroad by Maltese prime minister discusses immigration with Libyan PM

Prime Minister Robert Abela met with Prime Minister of the Libyan Government of National Accord Fayez al-Sarraj
Prime Minister Robert Abela met with Prime Minister of the Libyan Government of National Accord Fayez al-Sarraj

Updated at 8:16pm with additional details of meetings

Malta and Libya will be setting up joint coordination units in their respective capitals to tackle the migration crisis, MaltaToday has learnt.

The memorandum of understanding was signed on Thursday after talks between Prime Minister Robert Abela and the head of Libya’s Government of National Accord, Fayez al-Sarraj.

Sources close to the talks said the coordination units would help smoothen communication between both countries when dealing with migrant rescues in the Mediterranean.

Migration featured high on the agenda with Malta pledging to make Libya’s case with the EU for funding to help the north African state secure its borders.

Al-Sarraj and Abela discussed Operation IRINI, and agreed that this should consider both Malta and Libya's reservations about the work it was doing.

Al-Sarraj praised Malta's support for the GNA, saying he hoped cooperation between the two countries would continue to grow. He said the GNA was determined to defeat aggression in Libya, for the country to regain stability.

Abela reconfirmed Malta's support for the GNA and its rejection of any war in Tripoli. He underlined that the solution to the conflict could only come through political dialogue and not military intervention.

The Maltese premier reiterated Malta’s firm position on the need to address and stop human trafficking, stating that Malta is facing unprecedented and disproportionate flows and burdens.

He stressed that, with its limited resources, Malta has always respected its international obligations on a humanitarian basis. Yet, Malta cannot carry the burden alone and will work with its European partners to support countries in the Mediterranean with the necessary resources to face this challenge.

He emphasised that the solution clearly lies in concrete action on Libyan shores and its southern border - principally, through addressing and stopping human trafficking, rather than focusing just on relocation of migrants to other countries.

Abela was accompanied by Foreign Minister Evarist Bartolo, Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri and OPM head of secretariat Clyde Caruana.

Sources in Libya said the Libyan officials expressed their disappointment at the pro-Haftar position adopted by France.

The Maltese delegation left for Tripoli early Thursday morning and returned in the afternoon.

This is the first official visit abroad by the Prime Minister, who took office in January 2020.

Meetings were held with al-Sarraj, Libyan Foreign Minister Mohamed Siala and Interior Minister Fathi Bashaga. The heads of the Libyan coast guard and navy were also present.

Malta has been asking for stronger Libyan controls on human trafficking networks.

The Maltese government has shut its ports to asylum seekers and migrants travelling by the Central Mediterranean route on boats supplied by smugglers in Libya.

The government insists that the COVID-19 pandemic has made it unable to succour migrants at sea.

Internationally, the government has also withdrawn from an EU naval operation, Irini, to enforce a Libyan arms embargo widely seen to be selectively punishing of the GNA, by intercepting weapons exports from Turkey, its main ally.