The European Union has imposed limits on the export of inflatable boats to Libya in a bid to make it harder for smugglers to send refugees and migrants to Europe.

The decision on Monday by the foreign ministers of the 28 EU states is the latest step to stem the flow of people from Libya to Italy, now the main escape route to the bloc.

"We took a decision to introduce restrictions from today onwards on the export and supply to Libya of the inflatable boats and motors," EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said.

READ MORE: Defend Europe boat tries to block migrant rescues

"These devices are used by traffickers for smuggling activities. This decision we have taken on the European Union level will help make their businesses and lives even more complicated," the former Italian foreign minister told reporters.

An EU statement said there will now be a legal basis to block the supply of dinghies and outboard motors to Libya if there are "reasonable grounds" to suspect they will be used by people smugglers and human traffickers.

The restrictions will also apply to such goods if they are transiting through the EU to Libya - a move which would, in theory, affect China where many are manufactured.

Fishermen and others who have legitimate reasons to use the dinghies and motors will still be able to import them, the council said.

In practice, EU countries could deny licenses to import-export businesses suspected of supplying smugglers, according to EU sources.

Crossings and deaths

The new rule does not cover Libya's neighbouring countries, which remain a source of dinghies and outboard motors for smugglers.

As of May 2017, there have been 1,530 people who drowned while crossing the Mediterranean and most of them were reportedly trying to cross to Italy, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

The foreign ministers meanwhile extended until the end of 2018 an EU mission to help Libya re-establish effective controls mainly at its southern borders where sub-Saharan African refugees and migrants first arrive.

Libya is struggling to control its long land borders with Sudan, Chad and Niger.

In another bid to stop smuggling, the EU has also trained 113 Libyan coastguard members in the last few months and plans to train another 75 starting in September, Mogherini told reporters.

The EU is facing growing pressure from Italy to stop the flow of people to its shores, including demands to make member states admit tens of thousands of refugees and migrants under a largely unenforced emergency plan launched nearly two years ago.

More than 100,000 refugees and migrants have crossed the Mediterranean Sea since the start of the year, and 84 percent have arrived in Italy from Libya by boat, according to the IOM.</s>The European Union will allow members to restrict sales of inflatable boats and outboard motors to Libya in an effort to stop dangerous migrant smuggling across the Mediterranean.

EU foreign ministers have agreed to allow member countries to ban such exports or supply "where there are reasonable grounds to believe that they will be used by people smugglers and human traffickers".

A statement said the measure will also apply to boats and motors transiting through the EU, but not to fishermen or others with legitimate need for them.

The foreign ministers also agreed to extend a border aid mission in Libya through to the end of 2018 that helps Libyan security forces, notably in the lawless south.

Migrant crossings from Libya to Italy on unsafe boats have climbed in recent weeks.</s>(CNN) The European Union will limit the number of inflatable boats and motors it sends to Libya in order to prevent human trafficking .

"These are devices that are used by traffickers for their smuggling activities. So this decision we have taken on the European Union level will help (in) making their businesses and their lives a bit more complicated," Federica Mogherini, the EU's chief foreign policy official, said at a news conference Monday.

The EU said the restrictions will not prevent exports or sales when they are "meant for legitimate uses by the civilian population, for instance for fishermen, who may need motors for their boats."

Libyan naval officers punctures a dinghy used by illegal migrants at the naval base in Tripoli on May 6.

More than 100,000 migrants have arrived in Europe by sea this year -- with Italy being their preferred first port of call. Some never make it. More than 2,300 have been reported dead or missing in the Mediterranean in 2017, according to the International Organization for Migration

Many fleeing Libya hope to escape the volatile situation and civil unrest that has rocked the country following the death of its ousted dictator, Moammar Gadhafi.

On the whole, the migrants come from across Africa and the Middle East, some fleeing violence and persecution and others looking for economic refuge.

Mogherini said the EU would continue to work with Libya to help the country out of its security crisis.

EU foreign ministers also agreed to renew the bloc's mission to assist Libyan authorities with border management, law enforcement and criminal justice, particularly along the country's southern borders.

"Libya has enough resources -- including human resources, economic resources and natural resources -- to find its own way out of this political crisis, which is the essential precondition to work on security issues and also on migration," she said.</s>The EU is limiting the sale of inflatable boats and outboard motors to Libya in an effort to stop dangerous migrant smuggling across the Mediterranean.

Foreign ministers agreed to allow member countries to ban such export or supply 'where there are reasonable grounds to believe that they will be used by people smugglers and human traffickers'.

A statement said the measure will also apply to boats and motors transiting through the EU - though not to fishermen or others with legitimate need for them.

The foreign ministers also agreed to extend a border aid mission in Libya through the end of 2018 that helps Libyan security forces, notably in the lawless south.

Last week, a senior EU envoy urged Beijing to restrict the sale of inflatable dinghies that he said are used by trafficking gangs to carry migrants on treacherous sea journeys to Europe.

Around 1.4million refugees and migrants have made their way to Europe since 2015, many of whom are fleeing Syria's bloody civil war, in the biggest wave of migration the continent has seen since World War II.

Thousands have died, often while attempting to cross the Aegean and Mediterranean Seas in flimsy rubber boats.

Last year Italian coastguard vessels recovered more than a thousand such crafts, each with an average of 122 passengers.

And migrant crossings from Libya to Italy on unsafe boats have climbed in recent weeks.

The number of migrants arriving in Italy by boat in the first six months of 2017 was about 85,000, EU border agency Frontex has announced.

Most of the migrants came on boats from Libya, with 24,800 alone coming in June.

More than 1,000 migrants are thought to have died in waters between the two nations, according to the International Organization for Migration.

The figure is 21 per cent higher than it was in 2016, and went up eight per cent between May to June.

Most of the arrivals were from either Guinea and Nigeria, followed by people from Ivory Coast and Bangladesh.</s>In an extraordinary twist more than two years after the migration crisis began, eurocrats agreed to place a ban on European companies flogging inflatable dinghies to criminal gangs. EU leaders expressed concerns that migrants are being ferried across the Mediterranean from Libya using boats and engines sourced from Europe.

People smugglers have been taking advantage of people’s desperation for a better life by packing them into unsafe and unseaworthy vessels. Thousands have tragically drowned in the Mediterranean whilst many more have been found by rescue teams drifting at sea in tiny inflatables.

Italy is currently under unbearable pressure from the sheer number of new arrivals, with 10,000 people reaching its shores every day. The renewed migration crisis has threatened to once more push the EU to breaking point, with Rome furious at a lack of help from fellow members. Italian officials have threatened to close their ports to migrant ships and want a new code of conduct for NGOs running search and rescue operations. As Brussels continues to struggle with the political and humanitarian fallout from the crisis, eurocrats today announced the new measure on boat exports.

Foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini said it was unacceptable people smugglers were using machinery acquired from Europe to commit their crimes. She said: “We took a decision to introduce restrictions from today onwards on the export and supply to Libya of inflatable boats and motors. “These devices are used by traffickers for smuggling activities. This decision we have taken at the European Union level will help make their businesses and lives even more complicated.” In a statement Brussels said it national authorities can now block the sale of dinghies and outboard motors to Libya if there are “reasonable grounds” to suspect they will be used by people smugglers and human traffickers.

The restrictions will affect all goods travelling from Europe to the North African state even if they were manufactured elsewhere, with many boats and engines sold on the continent actually made in China. Officials said that people who could prove they have a legitimate need for such equipment, like fishermen, would still be able to source it from European companies. They added that any businesses found breaching the rules and supplying to people smugglers could have their import-export licenses revoked by European authorities. The measure is the latest in a number of initiatives the EU has taken to combat the growing crisis in Italy, including training up the Libyan coastguard and speeding up deportations of economic migrants.</s>The European Union said Monday that it is looking to limit the amount of migrants coming into its member countries by restricting the sale of rubber dinghies to Libya.

The foreign ministers of the 28 member states of the EU made the decision, which also covers rubber vessels that have outboard motors, to assist the North African nation stem the flow of migrants leaving its shores for Italy.

"We took a decision to introduce restrictions from today onwards on the export and supply to Libya of the inflatable boats and motors," EU foreign policy Chief Federica Mogherini said according to Deutsche Welle. "These are devices are used by traffickers for smuggling activities. This decision we have taken on the European Union level will help make their businesses and lives even more complicated."

According to a statement released by EU officials, they claim that there is now a legal basis to block the supply of the boats to Libya is there are “reasonable grounds.”

The sales restrictions, however, will not apply to legitimate Libyan businesses, such as professional fishing crews. It was not immediately clear how the Union will check to ensure that exports do not end up in the wrong hands.

Europe, and Italy in particular, has seen a sharp rise in Migrants crossing the Mediterranean Sea for 2017.

More than 88,000 migrants have crossed the Mediterranean to Italy so far this year, and more than a quarter of them arrived in June alone, according to BBC News.

The EU foreign ministers have also extended a mission to help Libya re-establish effective controls at its southern borders where migrants first arrive. The country has been struggling to maintain its land borders with Sudan, Chad and Niger. The EU has also started training Libyan Coast Guard members.

The union has been facing growing pressure from Italy to quell the flow of migrants to its coast.

The country has also demanded that EU member states admit tens of thousands of migrants, as part of a unenforced emergency plan nearly two years ago.</s>The European Union on Monday adopted limits on the export of inflatable boats to Libya in a bid to make it harder for smugglers to send migrants to Europe.

The decision by the foreign ministers of the 28 EU states, which also covers outboard motors, is the latest to help a chaotic and violence-torn Libya stem the flow of migrants to Italy, now the main route to the bloc.

"We took a decision to introduce restrictions from today onwards on the export and supply to Libya of the inflatable boats and motors," EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said.

"These are devices are used by traffickers for smuggling activities. This decision we have taken on the European Union level will help make their businesses and lives even more complicated," the former Italian foreign minister told reporters.

An EU statement said there will now be a legal basis to block the supply of dinghies and outboard motors to Libya if there are "reasonable grounds" to suspect they will be used by people smugglers and human traffickers.

The restrictions will also apply to such goods if they are transiting through the EU to Libya -- a move which would in theory affect China where many are manufactured.

Fishermen and others who have legitimate reasons to use the dinghies and motors will still be able to import them, the council said.

In practice, EU countries could deny licenses to import-export businesses suspected of supplying smugglers, according to EU sources.

The foreign ministers meanwhile extended until the end of 2018 an EU mission to help Libya re-establish effective controls mainly at its southern borders where sub-Saharan African migrants first arrive.

Libya is struggling to control its long land borders with Sudan, Chad and Niger.

In another bid to stop smuggling, the EU has also trained 113 Libyan coast guard members in the last few months and plans to train another 75 starting in September, Mogherini told reporters.

The EU is facing growing pressure from Italy to stop the flow of migrants to its shores, including demands to make member states admit tens of thousands migrants under a largely unenforced emergency plan launched nearly two years ago.

The Italian authorities have already registered 85,000 arrivals on its coasts in the first six months of the year.</s>The European Union restricts exports of inflatable boats to stem the flow of refugees and migrants from North Africa.

EU foreign ministers are seeking a joint global strategy on refugees and migration as thousands continue to make the perilous journey across the Mediterranean Sea.

The ministers met in Brussels on Monday looking to build on existing cooperation with each other and the UN.

More than 100,000 refugees and migrants have crossed the Mediterranean to Europe this year, many of them were smuggled from Libya.

The European Union is introducing export restrictions on inflatable boats and outboard motors being sold in Libya to try and stem the flow.

Italian leaders say they bear the brunt of the refugee burden and not enough is being done to help them.

EU interior ministers agreed last month to step up deportations of failed asylum-seekers and help beef up the Libyan coastguard.

The Italian govermment is warning of unprecedented measures if other European countries fail to share its overwhelming burden. Are the threats serious?</s>Generation Identitaire plans to stop boats carrying migrants who have been rescued at sea to the European Union shores where they will try to seek asylum. Charities and NGOs are currently rescuing lives off the coast of Libya as thousands escape the war-torn country every day. Those leaving Libya are often not Libyan but from poorer nations in Africa, which they left to seek work elsewhere. However, since the fall of Gaddafi in Libya and the rise of militia groups, most have been raped, beaten, jailed and sold on black slave markets. Young, political representatives of Generation Identitaire - many of whom are not European but from the US and Canada - have claimed they are “defending Europe”. On Sunday the group announced their ship the C-Star will be boarded by their crew this week.

They said: “The C-Star is on her way and tomorrow the first members of our Crew will arrive in Catania.” Brittany Pettibone announced on her Twitter site: “I have arrived in gorgeous Catania, Sicily for the Defend Europe mission… It’s gonna be kicking off pretty soon. “I am very excited to see what the next couple of weeks bring.” The group has been backed by people across Europe who want to seal borders to desperate souls from Africa and the Middle East - raising $100,000 to fund their boat. The vessel will have a crew of 15 and will allegedly try to stop boats entering Sicily - but will not stop the rescue missions for the time being. NGOs have said they will be breaking maritime laws which state there is a responsibility on the seafaring community to save all lives at sea.

And those working on the seven ships from all over Europe, currently rescuing children, some just hours old, as well as their families, said the GI mission could lead to deaths. One anonymous NGO worker told Express.co.uk: “You call them economic migrants - and yes some of them are - but what you need to understand is while they are seeking work - they are doing so because they will die without it, and their families will too. “So, call them economic migrants, they are in technicality, but understand they may as well be coming from war zones because the outcome is the same, they are all facing death. “Wouldn’t you want to try and survive?” This year alone 2,000 people have died making the perilous crossing from Libya to Italy - a journey which they have each paid around $2,000 for. Many are escaping the worst kinds of torture imaginable. However, Italy has announced the Government can no longer take the strain as Eu nations refuse to share the burden of taking in refugees.</s>As America cheers on the latest American regime change campaign, with the sinister goal to remove Assad and replace him with the black flag of “moderate rebels” (aka ISIS), perhaps it’s time the United States, the European Union, and every citizen living in a NATO member state, not only remember the last “dictator” that was overthrown by the alliance…but also focus in on the hell that Libya has become since America liberated the North African nation.

Today…West African migrants are being bought and sold openly in modern-day slave markets in Libya.

Survivors of Libya’s slave trade have told the International Organization for Migration “that the trade in human beings has become so normalised that people are being traded in public.”

“The situation is dire. The more IOM engages inside Libya, the more we learn that it is a vale of tears for all too many migrants.”

The Guardian reports on Libya’s thriving slave trade market, but fails to address why Libya has descended into such chaos. UK PM at the time, Mr. Cameron, played a major role in pushing for an illegal war in Libya.

The north African nation is a major exit point for refugees from Africa trying to take boats to Europe. But since the overthrow of autocratic leader Muammar Gaddafi, the vast, sparsely populated country has slid into violent chaos and migrants with little cash and usually no papers are particularly vulnerable.

One 34-year-old survivor from Senegal said he was taken to a dusty lot in the south Libyan city of Sabha after crossing the desert from Niger in a bus organised by people smugglers. The group had paid to be taken to the coast, where they planned to risk a boat trip to Europe, but their driver suddenly said middlemen had not passed on his fees and put his passengers up for sale.

 

 “The men on the pick-up were brought to a square, or parking lot, where a kind of slave trade was happening. There were locals – he described them as Arabs – buying sub-Saharan migrants,” said Livia Manante, an IOM officer based in Niger who helps people wanting to return home.

She interviewed the survivor after he escaped from Libya earlier this month and said accounts of slave markets were confirmed by other migrants she spoke to in Niger and some who had been interviewed by colleagues in Europe.

“Several other migrants confirmed his story, independently describing kinds of slave markets as well as kinds of private prisons all over in Libya,” Manente said. “IOM Italy has confirmed that this story is similar to many stories reported by migrants and collected at landing points in southern Italy, including the slave market reports. This gives more evidence that the stories reported are true, as the stories of those who managed to cross-match those who are returning back to their countries.”

After his sale, the Senegalese migrant was taken to a makeshift prison of a kind that has been well documented in Libya. Those held inside are forced to work without pay, or on meagre rations, and their captors regularly call family at home demanding a ransom. His captors asked for 300,000 west African francs (about £380), then sold him on to a larger jail where the demand doubled without explanation.

Men who lingered there too long without the ransom being paid were taken away and killed, he said. Some wasted away on meagre rations in unsanitary conditions, dying of hunger and disease, but overall numbers never fell. “If the number of migrants goes down, because of death or someone is ransomed, the kidnappers just go to the market and buy one,” Manente said.

His terrified family began scraping together loans. As he spoke fluent English, French and some local languages, he translated for his jailers to win time for relatives to collect the money.

Many other migrants flee Libya with similar stories, said Giuseppe Loprete, chief of mission at IOM Niger. “Its very clear they see themselves as being treated as slaves,” he said.

Loprete’s office has arranged for the repatriation of 1,500 people in the first three months of this year – almost the same number as in the whole of 2015. He fears more horrors are likely to emerge.

“There are now more migrants coming back from Libya, so that’s also why all these stories are coming to the surface,” he said. “And conditions are worsening in Libya so I think we can also expect more in the coming months.”
The European Union restricts the exports of inflatable boats to Libya.