Malta has asked the EU for a humanitarian mission to Libya with at least 100 million euros in aid to stop migration flows from the African country during the COVID-19 emergency.
The Maltese government has asked the EU to launch an ''urgent humanitarian mission'' in Libya to stop undocumented migration during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Maltese Foreign Minister Evarist Bartolo, in a letter to EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, called for the EU mission to distribute at least 100 million euros of food and medical aid.
'The only sustainable and realistic option'
A European Commission spokesperson confirmed that the letter had been received and "will be evaluated".
"The situation in Libya is always present in the thoughts of EU high representative Josep Borrell," the spokesperson said, recalling the launch of Operation IRINI.
Maritime traffic was halted to and from Malta on March 10 and airspace was closed a week later. Bartolo wrote in the letter to Borrell, according to the Times of Malta, that the only sustainable and realistic option to prevent a humanitarian crisis is for the EU to urgently launch a mission in Libya.
'Over 650,000 people ready to leave Libyan coasts'
The minister estimated that "more than 650,000 people are waiting to depart Libyan coasts to reach Europe, while the departure rate is speeding up due to the conflict, illness, and lack of basic necessities".
He said delivering aid to Libya, and not countries in sub-Saharan Africa that migrants depart from, is "the most rapid way to alleviate and minimise the difficult circumstances in which they are living."