Libya rejects Hungarian proposal to set up refugee city on its coastline

Libya has rejected a proposal by the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban to establish a giant refugee city on its North African coastline, where it could process asylum applicants from across the continent, Anadolu reported on Tuesday. Orban made his suggestion during a refugee crisis meeting in Vienna on Saturday for European and Balkan countries.

The controversial Hungarian politician said that Libya’s unity should be preserved, with a new Libyan government set up and brought into a cooperation agreement. “Unless we preserve Libya as one and stabilise it we cannot create the gigantic refugee city on Libya’s Mediterranean coast,” he explained.

One day after his proposal, the Libyan national agreement government, supported by the UN, completely rejected it, as did a number of Libyan NGOs and human rights activists, including the National Committee for Human Rights. “We will not allow any project to settle African refugees in Libya and make it a large reservation centre just to protect Europe,” said the NCHR in a press statement.

The NGO criticised the European policy regarding refugees and expressed its concerns that some European countries have adopted policies to put pressure on them. “This,” it argued, “has a negative effect on the duties of the European countries according to international law and the European convention for human rights.”

The NCHR called on Europe not to ignore the human nature of the refugee crisis, and to bear its responsibilities with respect for international law.