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Sudan to address illegal migration to Libya in cooperation with AU

November 21, 2017 at 1:41 pm

Bodies of African migrants and refugees washed up on the shores of western Libya [Libyan Red Crescent Society/Twitter]

Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir announced yesterday that he is willing to fight illegal migration to Libya in cooperation with the African Union’s Peace and Security Council.

Al-Bashir was speaking during a meeting with the head of the National Forces Alliance and former Libyan Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril at the presidential palace in Khartoum.

Jibril said “the President of the Republic [Al-Bashir] agreed to address the issue of illegal migration in Libya with the African Peace and Security Council and contact the President of the Congo-Brazzaville, as he is the chairman of the Special Committee on Libya in the African Union, to combat illegal migration.”

“My meeting with Al-Bashir revolved around the efforts made to curb illegal migration and coordinate efforts to address the implications and effects of migration.”

Read: Libya’s detention of migrants is ‘inhuman’ says UN official

He continued: “I have explained to President Al-Bashir the point of view of the Libyan National Forces Alliance on the issue of illegal migration.”

He also added: “We will continue our efforts with parties in other African countries we will give all support to Al-Bashir to enable him to urgently address this issue within the African Union.”

#MigrantCrisis 

In June, the US State Department’s annual report classified Sudan as one of the third-tier countries whose governments do not meet the minimum standards for anti-human-trafficking and do not make efforts to do so.

Sudan is a passageway for illegal migrants, most from the Horn of Africa, who are transported to other countries, such as Israel, through the Egyptian Sinai Desert, as well as to Europe through war torn Libya.