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maltatoday, SUNDAY, 10 MAY 2015 News 9 Tripoli pledges to deport migrants and secure borders in sop to EU CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Some 1,750 migrants have died crossing the Mediterranean to Europe so far this year, 30 times more than during the same period in 2014, according to the International Or- ganisation for Migration. But the record numbers of mi- grants saved at sea in recent weeks, with up to 4,000 saved in a single day last month, shows that asylum seekers have not been deterred by the recent disasters. Moreover, Zuwari's online ad- vert, which includes his phone number and Viber and WhatsApp contacts, includes the prices for trips from third countries to Libya. "We have a passage from Egypt to Libya 8,500 Egyptian Pounds (€990); payment after arrival to Libya. Sudan-Libya: $1,700 (€1,500) payment upon arrival, Tunisia-Libya: $350 (€310) pay- ment upon arrival, Algeria-Libya: $800 (€710) payment upon arrival, Turkey-Libya: $3,300 (€2,940) pay- ment upon arrival." These offers confirm the com- plex network of human trafficking which is run from Libya, Turkey and Europe. Other smugglers advertise specif- ic trips from Turkey to Greece on speedboats (starting from €1,500 per person) and bigger cargo boats to Italy (starting from €6,500, with children half-price). More enterprising smugglers use their Facebook pages to liveblog the progress of their trips across the sea. Others create online cha- trooms where migrants can share their experiences and advice. In some cases, online adverts and pages even attempt to allay migrants' fears over the safety of such trips. Smugglers post pictures of cruise liners and boats under headings such as "very safe" or "two floors, air-conditioned, suitable for tourists. Recommended for fami- lies." EU plans hit Russian firewall The EU's external relations repre- sentative, Federica Mogherini will tomorrow seek a Security Council resolution to authorise interven- tion on the high seas, in Libyan territorial waters and onshore in Libya, to seize vessels. However, the UN envoy repre- senting the internationally recog- nised government based in Tobruk, Ibrahim Dabbashi, told AP that Libya rejected the EU plan and that his government "hasn't even been consulted and rul[ed] out EU forces on Libyan soil 'at this stage'… 'We will not accept any boots on the ground'." Dabbashi also criticised ex- panded rescue operations: He called the idea of deploying more boats to the wa- ters off Libya to save migrants a 'completely stupid decision' because it would encourage even more migrants to come to his country, further bur- dening local authorities. Moreover, this week Russia sig- nalled it would veto any UN reso- lution to authorise the destruction of ships in Libyan ports, effectively ruling out the legal authority the EU says it needs to mount such an operation. "We think it's just going too far," Russia's UN ambassador, Vitaly Churkin, said on the EU's bid to destroy the vessels. "We think that we should stay within the scope of what we have, roughly what we have for the piracy situation off the coast of Somalia. We have a good precedent, so why not use it," he said. Libya has been largely lawless since the toppling of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, with the country being unable to police its borders. Hundreds of thousands of migrants reach Libya in the hope of travel- ling to Europe by boat and the EU has been facing growing criticism for its inability to save lives at sea. The EU's latest plans to secure its external borders have also come under harsh criticism from hu- manitarian organisations. Tripoli pledges deportation Libya's national salvation govern- ment in Tripoli has in the mean- time announced that it will deport migrants in Libya back to their home countries. In a high-level meeting on Wednesday, the Islamist-led Libya Dawn, which contests the authori- ty of the government led by Abdul- lah al Thani in Tobruk, discussed "methods capable of ending this phenomenon." "The National Salvation Govern- ment is committed to take all nec- essary measures… of preventing the continuity of illegal immigra- tion, and will adopt all deterring measures against the violators." It also said that it would cooper- ate with the EU and neighbouring countries to stem the flow of mi- gration from sub-Saharan Africa. In a statement, the Tripoli gov- ernment said it had followed "with deep concern, the phenomenon of illegal immigration crossing through the Libyan territories into Europe generally and Italy par- ticularly, leaving greater burdens suffered by the immigrants, lead- ing in most cases to the drowning and death of vast numbers among them." In a meeting with interim prime minister Khalifa al Ghawi, Tripoli said it would assign the Illegal Im- migration Authority to improve health and living conditions of de- tainees up until they are deported; finding convenient detention sites for women and children; deport the detainees to their home coun- tries; address immigration source states, such as Mali, Niger and So- malia, and deploy armed troops to patrol the sites from where the im- migrants travel. The measures effectively prevent migrants from securing any form of access to request asylum or oth- er forms of protection. EU plan to resettle 20,000 migrants from south THE European Union may accept up to 20,000 refugees a year and set up an automatic redistribution pro- gramme for migrants from southern European states, under plans cur- rently being developed in Brussels. The Wall Street Journal said that a draft text due to be adopted by the European Commission, was propos- ing a distribution among EU states of people who haven't yet entered the bloc, using a formula that takes into account the size of the popula- tion in the receiving country, the strength of the economy and unem- ployment rates in each country, as well as the number of refugees they have taken in so far. The 16-page 'European Agenda for Migration' comes in response to the refugee crisis Europe is facing, after thousands of migrants died in their attempt to cross the Mediter- ranean. Under the plan, up to some 20,000 refugees would be resettled through a €50 million fund in 2015-16. Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker is the main driver behind this initiative, which has the back- ing of the German government, two EU diplomats told the WSJ. Germany and Sweden have so far taken the bulk of refugees in Europe and insist that a "voluntary system" doesn't mean other countries should shirk their responsibilities. But the programme wouldn't be binding for the UK, Ireland and Denmark, which have opted out of the EU asylum system. With more boats expected to cross the Mediterranean this summer, the Commission says that by the end of May it will propose emergency measures, including a "distribution mechanism for persons in clear need of international protection to ensure a fair and balanced partici- pation of all member states to this common effort," the draft reads. Later, by the end of 2015, the Commission plans to propose leg- islation "for a mandatory and auto- matically triggered relocation sys- tem to distribute those in clear need of international protection within the EU when a mass influx emerges. The scheme will take account of the efforts already made on a voluntary basis by member states," according to the draft plan. These plans are subject to approval by national governments, many un- der pressure from anti-immigrant, populist opposition parties, for ex- ample Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban. "The idea that some- body allows some refugees in their own country and then distributes them to other member states is mad and unfair," he said in an interview on state radio on Friday. Orban supports EU plans to de- stroy traffickers' boats and prevent migrants from leaving North Afri- can shores. The Commission plan also sug- gests setting up a "pilot multipur- pose centre" in Niger, together with the International Organization for Migration and the United Nations, to provide "a realistic picture of the likely success of migrants' journeys, and offer assisted voluntary return options for irregular migrants." An additional €60 million in emer- gency funding would be allocated from the EU budget, "to support the reception and health care system of member states under particular pressure", based on an evaluation of needs currently being worked on. The Commission is also propos- ing a review of the EU's Blue Card, "looking at issues of scope such as covering entrepreneurs who are willing to invest in Europe, or im- proving the possibilities for intra- EU mobility for Blue Card holders." As a longer-term plan, the com- mission also wants to centralise applications by economic migrants into an "EU-wide pool of qualified migrants, accessible to both employ- ers and member states' authorities – but with the actual selection and the admission procedure remaining national, based on Member States' actual labour market needs." lah al Thani in Tobruk, discussed Some pages on Facebook advertise trips on "two floors, air-conditioned, suitable for tourists. Recommended for families." EU foreign representative Federica Mogherini (top) will ask for a UN security council resolution to destroy smugglers' boats in Tripoli, but Russian ambassador Vitaly Churkin (above) said that this would be 'going to far' Libyan forces detain migrants from Ghana at a border on the Sahara desert. The Tripoli government claims it will send more troops to deter migrants from crossing