Libya requests €1bn
2008-06-04 18:05
Tripoli - Libya sent 30 940 illegal immigrants home last year, at its own expense and is seeking €1bn in aid to cope with the flow of illegals immigrants, a senior official said on Wednesday.
"We calculate (we have) one million clandestine immigrants, which is some 20% of the total population," said interior ministry Colonel Abdel Monem Ayad.
"On our own, we cannot stand up to this scourge," he said on the sidelines of a workshop, organised by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) on voluntary repatriation.
"The Europeans ask us to stop this flow of immigrants transiting our territory, but we do not have the means to watch over more than 4 000km of land frontiers and a coastline of 1 700km," he said.
Official figures released by Tripoli say that in 2006, Libya repatriated 64 430 illegal immigrants at an estimated cost of €4m.
Ayad said Libyan leader Muammar Kadhafi had submitted Tripoli's request for the €1bn aid during the Europe-Africa summit last December in Lisbon.