German Left party says government is paying Libya to stop migrants

[pampango]

Germany's 'dirty deal' with Libya to stop migrants
The German Left party says the government is doing a "dirty deal" with Libya: military aid in exchange for stopping migrants on the coast. But it is unclear how war-torn Libya could even do that if it tried.

Germany's opposition Left party has expressed its suspicions of a "dirty deal" after German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen raised the prospect of sending troops to Libya to support a potential unity government in the fractured North African country. "Germany will not be able to duck its responsibility to make a contribution," von der Leyen told Monday's edition of the "Bild" newspaper. If a unity government were established in Libya, "it will quickly need help to establish justice and order in this huge state and at the same time fight against Islamist terror."

The Left party's foreign policy spokesman Jan van Aken said he suspected a "dirty deal" was being hashed out to support the government in exchange for demanding that it prevent more migrants from reaching Europe via Libya's coast.

The EU is already running "Operation Sophia" to try and thwart human traffickers on the Mediterranean and at this stage it is unclear what else the Libyan government could do to prevent migrants leaving the coast. "One of my assumptions is that, once there is a unified Libyan government - if there ever is - one of the first requests from all European countries will be to upgrade the Sophia mission and allow it to intervene on the ground in Libya," said Toaldo.

Of course, the EU has always tried to pressure Libya - and indeed any country on the Mediterranean - into stemming the flow of migrants. Until now, Libya's solution has been internment camps. Former dictator Muammar Gadhafi declared illegal immigration a criminal offense - a law that is still in effect today. "And so migrants who are found without papers are detained in these detention centers, where major violations of human rights have been reported," said Toaldo. "And usually these detention centers are not managed by any government authority, but by local militias."

http://www.dw.com/en/germanys-dirty-deal-with-libya-to-stop-migrants/a-18994413

The EU and Gaddafi had an agreement under which Libya was paid to stop migrants from transiting through Libya. Apparently the German left thinks something similar is being contemplated now, this time possibly involving foreign troops on the ground in Libya.

[scscholar]

1. Wow, that's terrible

They hates those people. Hates those people.