The head of the UN Support Mission in Libya, Martin Kobler, has warned that there are 235,000 migrants in Libya “just waiting for the opportunity to go to Italy, which they will.”
In an interview Thursday with the Italian daily La Stampa, Kobler said that new waves of migrants will soon be hitting Italy’s shores, adding to the nearly 300,000 migrants that have arrived into Europe by sea since the first of the year.
The UN chief also tied migration to terrorism, noting that both phenomena are symptoms of the same disease, which is “the lack of state authority.” Without restoring the rule of law to Libya, he said, human trafficking and terrorism will continue.
“On our lists there are 235,000 migrants just waiting for the opportunity to go to Italy, and they will,” Kobler said. “Increased security is the most important issue at this time. If there is a strong and united army, not fragmented, the dangers of terrorism and human trafficking will end,” he said. READ MORE
