The European Commission has approved five new migration-related programmes in North Africa for a total amount of €61.5 million, the institution announced on Wednesday 3 July.
These programmes are funded by the EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa, which aims to address the root causes of irregular migration to Europe. They "will reinforce ongoing actions to protect and assist refugees and vulnerable migrants in North of Africa especially in Libya, improve the living conditions and resilience of Libyans as well as foster economic opportunities, labour migration and mobility in the North of Africa countries", the Commission said in a statement.
Of this amount, €23 million will finance the protection of vulnerable migrants, returnees and host communities in Libya, as well as the improvement of migration management along the country's migration routes.
The announcement was made in the aftermath of an air raid on a migrant detention centre in Libya, which killed 40 migrants and injured at least 80 in Tajourah.
"The events of last night killing migrants are a strong reminder of the need to pursue EU's efforts to protect them and to put an end once and for all to the Libyan detention system", commented European Commissioner Johannes Hahn. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)