Brussels, 28/05/2015 (Agence Europe) - The UN special representative for Libya, Bernardino Leon, said on Thursday 28 May that the issue of migration was a “threat for Libya”.
“The line must not be taken that the migration issue is a European issue. (…) It's a threat for Libya, for the political process”, he said at a conference organised by the S&D Group at the European Parliament. “This is an economic, political and security threat comparable with a tumour that will gain new authorities and institutions every day. It is a serious threat for the future of a democratic Libya which is founded on strong institutions”, he added. In his view, the traffickers are part of organised crime groups which take advantage of the crisis, operate more easily in a context of crisis, and which will do everything for the crisis to last in order to be able to continue their activities. “The country is faced with an economic morass where the power of these criminal groups is particularly large”, he said, adding that these groups are not only trafficking people but also weapons.
While many Libyans believe that Europe should be helped, in Leon's view, immigration is in fact also “their own problem. Both parties (Europeans and Libyans) need to cooperate because the problem affects both parties”. Libyans must understand the importance of this issue of immigration and of the fact that it is a threat for their transition towards democracy, he added. Leon stated that it will be simpler to fight against immigration with a Libyan national unity government.
Little time for forming a government. Leon thus spoke about the formation of a national unity government. He announced that the EU was preparing a new draft text which should be sent to the different stakeholders over the course of the first week of June. “In three or four weeks, we will see if we can steer towards an agreement”, he added.
In Leon's opinion, there is 80% convergence on the text between the parties, but the work must continue on the remaining 20%. “This is where we must improve the proposal and where we will try to reduce the gap between the parties”, he said, adding that the parties will have to make “big concessions”. Signing the agreement is only one step, “of course an important one”, but it is only the beginning of Libyan reconstruction, he stated.
“We are beginning to run out of time”, he warned. “The country has no more time. Libya's collapse is possible”, he added. Libyan finances are not good, the security situation and the threat of Islamic State (IS) is bad, and there are political problems. Leon stated that if there was no agreement, it is IS which will take advantage of the situation.
In Leon's view, the situation in Libya is “a collective failure and everyone is responsible”.
Elsewhere, on Wednesday 27 May, the EU condemned the terrorist attack the previous day against Prime Minister Abdullah Al-Thinni, who escaped unharmed. Leon described the attack as “a scandalous attack to destabilise Libya further”. The EU called on all parties in Libya “to unite in order to confront the attacks that undermine the Libyan efforts to find a political agreement” (our translation throughout). (Camille-Cerise Gessant)