Amid a populist anti-illegal migrants / refugees sentiment flowing across Libya, the Tripoli based Libyan government reiterated their categorical rejection of any proposal related to the settlement of migrants inside Libya. It stressed that this policy does not represent any direction of the Libyan state, and that the state’s institutions work according to clear procedures to protect national security and regulate the labour market.
The categorical rejection came in an expanded meeting held yesterday at the Administrative Control Authority (ACA) where the Minister of Labor and Rehabilitation, Ali Al-Abed Al-Rida, participated in the expanded meeting held by the ACA, chaired by the ACA Chairman Abdullah Qaderboh, and in the presence of the Minister of Interior, Major General Imad Trabelsi, and several officials of the security and executive authorities
The meeting was to follow up on joint national efforts to address the file of illegal immigration and follow up on the implementation of the recommendations of the Joint Higher Committee formed by the Prime Minister Abdel Hamid Aldabaiba.
The meeting affirmed the continuation of coordination and joint work between the competent authorities to implement an integrated national plan based on securing borders, combating illegal immigration, and regulating the presence of expatriate workers in accordance with the legislation in force.
For his part, Al-Abed explained that the ministry’s role is focused on regulating the use of expatriate workers who enter the country through official ports and the approved legal procedures, stressing that the ministry’s strategy is based on qualifying and replacing national cadres and organizing the recruitment of labour according to the needs of the labour market.
Al-Abed was reacting to populist concern that the accommodation his ministry was establishing for workers might be for housing illegal migrants and refugees. His ministry stressed, however, that this accommodation is strictly for workers contracted by companies legally.
.
