Libyan Foreign Minister Mousa Kousa yesterday launched an unexpected broadside against what he considered as a largely apathetic Europe and what he referred to as propaganda-driven non-governmental organisations, which have been harshly critical of Libya’s human rights record and its treatment of migrants.
His comments follow wave after successive wave of damning reports highlighting alleged widespread human rights abuses with respect to sub-Saharan Africans transiting through Libya with the hope of reaching greener pastures in Europe.
Speaking in Malta yesterday at the close of the 26th Maltese-Libyan Joint Commission meeting held over the last three days, Mr Kousa was scathing in his replies to the press when questioned about his country’s alleged inhumane treatment of migrants.
Visibly irritated, Mr Kousa commented, “You don’t know what the problem is. There are six million Libyans and we have two million illegal immigrants, this problem is really on the shoulders of the Libyan people.
“We are working as guards to the EU, and Libya might not be able to continue doing this,” Mr Kousa, who had served as the head of Libyan external intelligence for 15 years before being appointed foreign minister last year, said in what appeared to be a veiled ultimatum as the EU and Libya continue attempting to strike new yet so far elusive political agreements.
“Europe is directly responsible for this problem and it should shoulder its responsibility. “Whatever our capabilities are, we cannot go on treating, providing shelter – we cannot continue taking on the burden of so many problems.
“I call on the international community to pay attention to this dangerous phenomenon.”
In the meantime, he remarked, “NGOs are using the issue for propaganda, but have provided no help.
“Let them provide medical treatment, food and accommodation for these two million people,” he invited.
“Thousands of Africans are looking to improve their lives, and it is not our business [what becomes of them] once here,” he replied to a Maltese journalist, in what appeared to be a suggestion that it was not, by the same measure, the business of Malta nor of Europe how migrants are treated in Libya.
“Frankly, the EU is not paying attention at all and the rest of the [individual] EU states are not interested,” he said.
Gaddafi to visit in March
Mr Kousa, joined by Maltese Foreign Minister Tonio Borg, referred to a meeting earlier in his visit with President George Abela, who extended an invitation for Libyan Leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi to visit Malta.
Mr Kousa said yesterday the invitation has been accepted and that Col. Gaddafi would, “God willing”, pay a visit to Malta this coming March.
Speaking yesterday, Dr Borg said he hoped the European Union-League of Arab States liaison office that has been opened in Malta would develop from a think tank into a permanent commission between the EU and Arab League.
Malta, he said, “cherishes” its relationship with the Arab world and with its southern neighbour Libya in particular, and Malta was aiming to deepen such relationships, particularly with Libya, as it holds the African Union presidency.
Dr Borg added that Malta’s EU membership, although positive for the country, “would never dwarf or diminish its relations with other countries, such as Libya, outside the EU”, and that Malta is using its EU membership to strengthen its relations with its neighbours and the Arab world.
Dr Borg also listed the ambition of organising an EU-Arab League summit for heads of government in the near future. During his visit, Mr Kousa also pitched the establishment of a Libyan-Maltese Academy that would operate along the lines of a similar academic partnership it had struck with Italy. Dr Borg said Malta would consider the concept.
Mr Kousa remarked there was room for improvement in business relations between Malta and Libya, and called on the Maltese business community to do more business with and to invest more in Libya.
One such area ripe for collaboration, he said, was in tourism – an area in which cooperation would be mutually beneficial. Tourist groups in Malta, he cited as an example, could also take trips to Libya to visit historic sites, given that Libya was a mere 45-minute flight away from Malta.
Libya, he said, was ready to cooperate in the area, such as facilitating the issuance of visas for such visits.
Politically, Mr Kousa said Libya was looking for a strong partnership with the EU, and said it was depending a lot on Malta as well as on other friendly EU states in this respect, since Malta now had a voice within EU circles.
