Topic A Migrant crisis: Mediterranean crossings from Libya

Unfortunately, the number of people, including men, women, and children trying to escape
from the fatalities of their countries have increased over the years as well as their security
and their basic human rights are being endangered. Libyans are not an exception to this
issue. People have been forced to take dangerous routes through the Mediterranean Sea.
More than 124,711 people have attempted to cross the central Mediterranean between
January 2017 to March 2018 towards Italy. 2,873 people died or reported missing at sea in
the central Mediterranean in 2017, many of them dying as a result of harsh environment.
Some others might get stuck on the frontier due to political issues between their nations. A
total of 44,306 had been registered as refugees and asylum seekers in Libya in 2018.

15,779 unaccompanied children arrived in Italy in 2017. In the same way other 278,000
people who have left their country in search of better living conditions, are in need of
resettlement in 15 priority countries (Algeria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Djibouti,
Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Tunisia, Niger, and Sudan) of
asylum for the central Mediterranean situation.

The lack of an effective government in Libya is one of the main causes of migration and
has enabled traffickers to operate almost unhindered out of Libyan ports. There are reports
that some migrants are being sold as slaves in Libya.

The Human Rights 2 committee is seeking to solve this issue with peace and democracy
between nations and takes as the main priority to respect and preserve human rights and
basic human dignity.

References:

Paragraph 3, the lack of an effective government from:

https://www.rte.ie/eile/brainstorm/2018/0203/938046-the-push-and-pull-factors-behind-
migration-to-europe/

Numbers and stats from: https://www.unhcr.org/5aa78775c.pdf

Number of African refugees from: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-europe-migrants-

libya/u-n-to-move-10000-migrants-from-libya-in-2018-idUSKBN1ED1PJ