Libya, regional countries discuss labor migration cooperation

Tripoli (Libya), November 11: Libya's Minister of Labour Ali Abed Al-Reda on Wednesday held a meeting with regional countries to discuss effective mechanisms to benefit migrants and enhance migration cooperation.
Present at the meeting were diplomatic representatives of the EU delegation to Libya and a group of envoys from Burkina Faso, Chad, Egypt, Ghana, Guinea Conakry, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Sudan and Tunisia.
"Effective international cooperation on labour migration is an essential component of a broader strategy to improve the safety and security of migrant workers who contribute to Libya's economy. As we know, the vast majority of the 610,000 migrant workers in Libya are part of the Libyan labour market," said Federico Soda, Libya Chief of Mission for the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
The EU Delegation to Libya underscored the importance of legal pathways for labour migration and safe and orderly migration in North Africa.
"A concrete roadmap is essential at this stage to guide the process further towards more bilateral and multilateral cooperation between countries of origin and the State of Libya," said Al-Reda.
Many illegal migrants, mostly Africans, chose to cross the Mediterranean Sea to European shores from Libya, given the state of chaos and insecurity that plagued the country since the fall of the late leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.
Source: Xinhua