Migrant holding centers following
international humanitarian standards will be set up in Chad and
Niger, according to a joint statement of the interior ministers
of Italy, Libya, Niger and Chad.
The ministers met Sunday in Rome for a summit organized by
Italian Interior Minister Marco Minniti.
Chad and Niger are key countries of transit for migrants who
travel to Libya from sub-Saharan Africa to then reach Italy by
sea through the central Mediterranean route.
The holding centers for illegal migrants would "follow
international humanitarian standards" and fight migrant
trafficking in efforts to manage the flow of migrants attempting
to reach Europe through Italy, according to the statement after
the meeting between Minniti and his counterparts Aref Khoja of
Libya, Mohamed Bazoum of Chad and Ahmat Mahamat Bachir of Chad
An estimated 90% of the nearly 46,000 migrants who landed in
Italy in the first four and a half months of 2017 - up 35% on
the same period last year - left from Libya, a country they
reached through Niger or Chad.
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