Admiral Enrico Credendino, commander of the EUNAVFOR Med Sophia naval operation, and Commodore Abdallah Toumia, commander of the Libyan coast guard and port security, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in Rome on Tuesday 23 August on the training of Libyan coastguards and navy. On 20 June 2016, the Council decided to add this training mission to the work of EUNAVFOR Med Sophia (see EUROPE 11576).
The MoU is a key stage in moving towards the start of cooperation with Libyan coastguards and the navy, said Credendino at the signature. It covers the programme for carrying out, in coordination with other EU agencies and other international players, all the training required. The EUNAVFOR Med Sophia operation will train Libyan coastguards and the navy in three consecutive phases: training on the high sea on board EUNAVFOR Med Operation Sophia units; ashore in a member state or Libya; and on Libyan coastguard and patrol boats. The training programme developed with the Libyan partners will improve security in Libya’s territorial waters, including the navy and coastguards’ capacity to implement measures to apply the law to combat criminal organisations taking advantage of contraband and human trafficking. It will therefore help prevent the loss of life at sea, said Credendino.
No precise dates have been set for the training to start, however. A European source told EUROPE that the policy and security committee (PSC) first needs to decide that the preparatory work has been completed, which it has not yet done. The source added that the question will need to be addressed at one of PSC's’ upcoming meetings, but could not give the exact date.
Active at sea since June 2015, EUNAVFOR Med has thus far saved, 21,958 individuals, 255 ‘boats’ have been removed from use and the Italian authorities have taken legal action against 84 alleged human traffickers and their accomplices. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)