EU to End Arbitrary Detention of Refugees, Migrants in Libya

European Union

The U.N. refugee and U.N. migration agencies have welcomed a decision by European states to end the arbitrary detention of refugees and migrants in Libya.

 During a meeting Monday in Paris, interior and foreign ministers from several European countries also committed to preventing loss of life on the Mediterranean Sea.

The ministerial meeting was triggered by the July 5 bombing of the Tajoura detention center on the outskirts of the Libyan capital, Tripoli.

The deadly airstrike killed 53 refugees and migrants, and it injured more than 130 others. Most were from sub-Saharan Africa.


The U.N. refugee agency says the agreement hammered out by the European states is a positive first step.  But it says there is a long way to go before this situation is resolved.

In late June, the German captain of a ship carrying 53 rescued migrants was arrested at the Italian port of Lampedusa.

 Italy’s right-wing Interior minister, Matteo Salvini, had barred her from docking.

After drifting at sea for nearly two weeks under increasingly desperate conditions, she decided to disobey the minister’s orders.

A judge later overturned the arrest, saying she had acted to save lives