Sunday, October 19, 2025
LibyaReview
  • Home
  • Libya
  • Economy
  • Sport
  • Politics
  • Entertainment
  • Opinion
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Libya
  • Economy
  • Sport
  • Politics
  • Entertainment
  • Opinion
No Result
View All Result
LibyaReview
No Result
View All Result
Home Libya

EU Observer: Libyan Coast Guard Actively Working with Migrant Smugglers

July 5, 2021
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

An ex-lieutenant police officer from Libya has claimed that the Coast Guard is actively working with smugglers to let the migrants pass to Europe, according to EU Observer news.

“The Libyan Coast Guard and smugglers are one together. They are not under the law, they are above the law,” he told EU Observer news on Friday. “The smugglers pay money to the Libyan Coast Guard to let them pass [to Europe by sea],” he added.

The officer added that the coast guard robs intercepted migrants and refugees of all their possessions, before handing them over to the authorities. “Those that can be squeezed for more cash are returned to detention centers, while the more impoverished are sent to state-run prisons,” he said.

“The government is not happy about that, but the Coast Guard separates them,” he explained.

He described it as a circular business where everyone takes a cut from the victim. A smuggler first collects money from the families of those detained, then pays those running the detention center a fee for their release. “They pay 7,000 Libyan dinars, he takes 5,000 for the jail and 2,000 for himself,” he said.

“Many of these boats are being recycled between the Coast Guard and the smugglers,” he said, noting they have taken control of all the major ports in northwest Libya.

Among them is Zuwara, which has become the main coastal trafficking hub in Libya, according to Vincent Cochetel, the UNHCR special envoy for the Central Mediterranean.

Egyptians typically pay between 7,000-10,000 Libyan dinars to be released, he said. People from Bangladesh, Morocco, and Tunisia pay 5,000 Libyan dinars, while sub-Saharan Africans pay 2,000 he said.

Tags: euEU ObserverLibyan Coast Guardmigrants
Next Post

Libyan Investment Authority Signs Energy MoU with Greece

POPULAR CATEGORIES

  • Home
  • Libya
  • Economy
  • Sport
  • Politics
  • Entertainment
  • Opinion

MUST READ

Lebanon Grants Bail to Hannibal Gaddafi for $11 Million

Libya’s Saddam Haftar Pledges to Protect Stability & National Unity

Libya’s Tripoli Faces Public Health Risk as Groundwater Contamination Rises

Le Point: Unregulated Meteorite Trade Expands in Libya

Municipal Elections Begin Across 16 Libyan Municipalities

Libyan PM Blames UNSMIL for Deepening Libyan Crisis

EDITOR PICKS

Libya & Turkey Discuss Labour & Training Cooperation

Libyan PM Blames UNSMIL for Deepening Libyan Crisis

Libya Plans to Boost Oil Output to 1.6 Million Barrels a Day by 2026

Libya’s Saddam Haftar Pledges to Protect Stability & National Unity

Libya’s Tripoli Faces Public Health Risk as Groundwater Contamination Rises

UN Welcomes Resumption of Municipal Elections in Libya

  • Home
  • Libya
  • Economy
  • Sport
  • Politics
  • Entertainment
  • Opinion

© 2024 LR

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Libya
  • Economy
  • Sport
  • Politics
  • Entertainment
  • Opinion

© 2024 LR