Tripoli court suspends migration deal
Publish date: 27 March 2017
Issue Number: 669
Diary: IBA Legalbrief Africa
Category: General
A Tripoli court has suspended a deal between Libya and Italy to limit irregular migration to Europe. Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni and his Libyan counterpart Fayez al-Sarraj signed the deal in February to tackle people smuggling through the North African country. Italy pledged funding to assist the UN-backed government in efforts to address Europe's biggest migrant crisis since World War II. However, a report on the News24 site notes that Libya’s Justice Ministry confirmed that an appeals court suspended implementation of the deal. ‘The court is still examining the issue and no final judgement has been issued,’ it said. The Tobruk-based Parliament in February declared the Italy deal ‘null and void’, the report states.