(ANSA) - ROME, DECEMBER 03 - "We must look at the southern border of Libya": said António Vitorino, director general of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), who spoke in a video link to the meeting on migration organized as part of the Conference RomaMed Dialogues 2021, in its seventh edition and promoted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and ISPI, with ANSA as media partner and running until tomorrow 4 December.
"Most of the migrants come from Sub-Saharan Africa, so they move from the southern part of Libya. We need to stabilize the community there, so migration can be regulated," he added, specifying the synergistic work with international bodies such as the African Union (UA ) and the European Union (EU). With particular reference to the pandemic, Vitorino recalled that it "has hit the most vulnerable people such as migrants and refugees, the weakest links in the chain".
The most incisive impact, continued Vitorino, comes from the east of the Mediterranean, but there is an increase in flows in the center of the area, with a growth of migrants rescued by the Libyan coast guard and brought back.
"In 2020-2021, the rights have increased three times compared to last year on the central Mediterranean route", while the proposed solutions are "superficial", with economic resources destined to the problem but which have not resolved it.
(HANDLE).