Start with Libya to combat illegal migration - Al-Monitor: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

Mustafa Fetouri

Mustafa Fetouri

Apr 30, 2015

Illegal migrants sit in an immigration holding centre located on the outskirts of Misrata March 11, 2015. Italy wants Egypt and Tunisia to play a role in rescuing stricken migrant vessels in the Mediterranean, a government planning paper showed, so that survivors could be taken back to African instead of European ports. Last April Italy rescued 4,000 migrants from boats trying to reach European shores in only 48 hours in a deepening immigration crisis that is being made worse by the turmoil in Libya, which — Illegal migrants sit in an immigration holding center located on the outskirts of Misrata, March 11, 2015. — REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic

Palestinians throw roses in the Mediterranean sea off the coast of Gaza City on September 18, 2014 in mourning over the loss of fellow Palestinians who had boarded a boat to Europe that sank off Malta last week. In one of the deadliest migrant shipwrecks on record, the boat, with 500 people on board, was intentionally capsized by traffickers as it made its way from Egypt to Italy. Only 10 people are known to have survived, among them four Palestinians from the 100 Gazans believed to have been on board. AFP

Smugglers threw asylum seekers into Mediterranean

Tom Rollins

MAHMUD TURKIA/AFP via Getty Images

Hundreds of migrants returned to Libya after rescue at sea

Al-Monitor Staff

Al-Monitor Staff

How my hometown became major smuggling route in Libya

Mustafa Fetouri

Mustafa Fetouri

Firefighters work to put out the fire of a storage oil tank at the port of Es Sider in Ras Lanuf December 29, 2014. Oil tanks at Es Sider have been on fire for days after a rocket hit one of them, destroying more than two days of Libyan production, officials said on Sunday. Libya has appealed to Italy, Germany and the United States to send firefighters. REUTERS/Stringer (LIBYA - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS CONFLICT ENERGY) - RTR4JKBK

Regional powers fighting proxy war in Libya

Mustafa Fetouri

Mustafa Fetouri