“Libya’s porous borders lead to illegal immigration boom,” from the Observers:
One of our Observer spoke to undocumented immigrants, many from Sudan, who had just crossed through Libya and were about to try their luck reaching Europe. They described how illegal immigration in Southern Libya has become big business for local militia groups.
The question of illegal immigration is not a new one for Libya. Back in 2007, the European Union offered assistance to then-president Muammar Gaddafi to help control his country’s desert borders in the east. Gaddafi ended the programme after the outbreak of the uprising against his regime in March 2011.
Since then, the situation has only deteriorated. Libya’s land and sea borders are under little or no surveillance. The central government, which already appears incapable of stabilising the country and controlling the many armed militias, seems equally unable to monitor its borders…
