Regrettably, the Greens/EFA group had to vote against the Panzeri report on Libya on 30 May 2018, due to the unsatisfactory language on EU migration policy, notably on the controversial cooperation with the Libyan Coast Guards.
Whilst this report contains valuable recommendations towards assisting Libya in its stabilisation process, we could not support it in our final vote given the centrality of migration in the EU-Libya engagement.
We actively contributed to the negotiation of this report and supported the rapporteur in his efforts to bring the situation of Libya to the fore of the EU agenda.
We regret however that this report fully endorses the EU’s support to the Libyan Coast Guards, who have been involved in numerous fundamental rights violations. We denounce this policy, which fails to comply with international human rights standards and leads to migrants and refugees being forcibly returned to the same abusive detention centres in Libya which UNHCR and IOM are trying to evacuate.
We call for a drastic, human-rights centred, review of EU cooperation with Libya on migration and to prioritise the evacuation of detention centres in Libya, urgent resettlement and the establishment of legal pathways for migrants and refugees to counter smuggling.
