military mission focused on smuggling and trafficking of people and arms, it had become a humanitarian mission which further overwhelmed the EU with additional arrivals of undocumented migrants.
Lastly, the EU Border Assistance Mission (EUBAM) to Libya was created following the fall of Gaddafi to improve Libya’s border control, strengthen the rule of law and build-up capacities to detect smuggling networks. Yet to this date EUBAM Libya only engages with state actors, which, given the fragmentation of Libya seriously limits its reach.
While these policies are helpful to a certain extent, they also represent protective mechanisms for the EU in order to limit the arrival of migrants on its shores. The focus on limiting and discouraging crossings by strengthening Libya’s capabilities has made the success of such missions limited. In fact between 2016 and 2017, when the above policies and mechanisms were already in place, a 26 per cent rise of the numbers of migrants arriving on Italian shores was noticed (see figure 3), with new nationalities and more fatalities.
Figure 3: Number and nationalities of Migrants Arriving on Italian Shores (2016-2017)
Source: Italian Ministry of Interior
New political, social, economic and legal policies, which acknowledge that Libya is likely to lack a strong state for a while and that push factors in Libya and its neighbouring countries will maintain the current migration pressure, are needed.
One initiative the EU can undertake is to economically support border communities. The latter rely heavily on smuggling and trafficking as it is often their sole source of income. The EU could assist these communities by supporting and bringing expertise to Libyan authorities in managing to separate the trade in illegal goods (e.g. wheat, flour, petrol or tobacco) from the more detrimental smuggling business. Trade of goods could be decriminalised, hence giving the border communities other options than smuggling or trafficking to sustain a livelihood.
Since the partition, the Libyan territory has been divided and many areas remain ungoverned. In some places, local authorities, councils or municipalities represent the only legitimate and present institution. The EU should therefore also involve local communities and authorities and engage with them to expand its reach, enhance capacity-building and encourage anti-smuggling efforts. While considering local actors can be bene
