An enlarged European Union Border Assistance Mission is poised to return to Libya with a broader mandate that includes providing advice on internal policing and the rule of law and justice, local media said on Wednesday.
The EU's ambassador to Libya, Bettina Muscheidt, told the country's United Nations backed foreign minister Mohammed Siala that EUBAM's bureau in Libya’s capital Tripoli would re-open "soon" without specifying a date, the Libyan Express newspaper reported on its website.
EU has given EUBAM a 16-month mission funded with 17 million euros and will increase its staff from 20 to 38, according to the Libya Herald daily.
An advance party is currently in Tripoli and is working with the interior and justice ministries to organise the EU border mission, the paper said.
EBAM will work with the Libyan authorities in rebuilding state institutions and infrastructure and will re-start stalled projects including ones directly linked to the daily life of citizens, especially children, Muscheidt was quoted as saying.
The EU delegation will also coordinate with Libya's authorities in fighting illegal immigration, according to Muscheidt.
EBAM withdrew from Libya over three years ago following the clashes in Tripoli in 2014.
.jpg)
.jpg)
