The African Union-European Union-United Nations (AU–EU–UN) Tripartite Taskforce on the Situation of Stranded Migrant and Refugees in Libya met yesterday in New York in the margins of the high-level General Debate of the 74th session of the UN General Assembly. The Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, the Commissioner for Social Affairs of the African Union Commission, Amira El Fadil, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy / Vice-President of the Commission, Federica Mogherini, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Director General, António Vitorino, discussed the next steps and priorities of the Taskforce, its support in Libya and possibilities for further joint work.

The members of the Taskforce deliberated on how to consolidate cooperation with the Libyan authorities in efforts to scale up assisted voluntary returns and evacuations from Libya, dismantle the existing system of arbitrary arrests and detention of migrants and create alternatives to detention, as well as ensure the rights of migrants and refugees are equally protected. The members’ also reiterated the need to redouble efforts aimed at supporting returning migrants in a more comprehensive manner to reintegrate back into their communities in countries of origin for a sustained return programme.

The Taskforce was put in place by the AU, the EU and the UN in November 2017, at the margins of the 5th AU-EU Summit in Abidjan, aiming to save and protect the lives of migrants and refugees along the migratory routes, and in particular inside Libya. This allowed the launch of a major assisted voluntary humanitarian return programme and evacuation operation, which until today has led to over 48,000 voluntary humanitarian returns of migrants from Libya to their home countries facilitated by IOM and AU Member States, as well as over 4,000 evacuations of refugees by UNHCR from Libya.

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Press release