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Libya cracks down on migrants Published Date: March 07, 2007 TRIPOLI: Oil-rich Libya has had enough. It no longer wants to be a magnet for sub-Saharan Africans and fellow Arabs who flock to the country seeking to use it as a stepping stone to a better life in Europe. With a small population of 5.8 million, increasing oil revenues and a coastline enticingly close to Sicily and other Mediterranean islands, Libya has found itself flooded by immigrants who now make up at least 20 percent of the population. Estimates vary wildly on the actual numbers of migrants, illegal or otherwise. Interior Minister Salah Rajab put the number at around one million, mostly from sub-Saharan Africa and about half of them illegal. But Laurence Hart of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) in Tripoli put the figure closer to 1.5 or even two million, with most coming from neighbouring Egypt and Sudan. Thousands of Egyptian workers were reported to have left Libya for home last week after they were found to lack the necessary papers. Most returned to Egypt by road, a security source said on Sunday, estimating the number of those who had left the country at 36,000. Last month, Libya hardened its stance against illegal immigrants entering the country in a bid to reach Europe by sea. The labour ministry issued an ultimatum that illegal migrants had until the end of February to leave the country, or pay taxes. Labour Minister Maatuk Maatuk had promised heavy punishment for employers found to be using illegal labour. Rajab also announced that citizens of fellow Arab states would again need visas to enter Libya, although this was later denied by Foreign Minister Abdel Rahman Shalgham. On Sunday, newspapers reported that Maatuk had now given immigrants until the end of March to put their papers in order. Last November Tripoli hosted a conference of European Union and African Union ministers to agree a pact on illegal immigration. The conference adopted a joint action plan to combat human trafficking, in particular that involving women and children, which has become a lucrative spin-off for organised crime gangs. Libyan proximity to southern Europe has made it a launching pad for impoverished migrants dreaming of a better life in the European Union. Malta, the tiny Italian island of Lampedusa and nearby Sicily are all tantalisingly close. The Libyan interior ministry said in a statement coinciding with last year's conference that it had repatriated 64,330 illegal migrants in 2006 at a cost of nearly four million euros (about five million dollars). It said it had also arrested 312 human traffickers and confiscated 74 boats. In addition to sub-Saharan Africans from Guinea or Mali entering Libya with visions of European riches, fellow Arabs are also risking all in the quest for a new life. More than 22,000 immigrants, including 8,146 Moroccans, 4,200 Egyptians and 2,859 Eritreans, were picked up inside Italy in 2006, according to Italian interior ministry figures. But many are not caught during the perilous sea voyage, and many also die en route. Those making the trip usually pay an average of 1,500 euros (2,000 dollars) to a mafia specialised in human traffic. Libya wants help in monitoring its 4,400 kilometres of desert borders, although it has so far refused Europeans permission to patrol its territorial waters-its 1,770-kilometre Mediterranean coastline makes it very attractive to potential economic migrants. As part of the country's new hard line against illegal immigration, raids are shown on television and security has been tightened around the port of Swara, near the Tunisian border and a popular embarcation point for Italy. Migrants can be seen all over Libya, working in farms and factories. "I work like a dog for five dinars (almost four dollars) a day pushing wheelbarrows," said Jakite Amara, a 30-year-old immigrant from Guinea working in Tripoli's Al-Talaat market. If Amara's aim is to make it to Europe, it will take a long time for him to save the money to pay for a journey that may never see his hopes realised-and could also end in detention or even his death. - AFP +++ ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Yahoo! Groups gets a make over. See the new email design. http://us.click.yahoo.com/hOt0.A/lOaOAA/yQLSAA/TySplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? 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