Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni made remarks on migration and the energy crisis as she took part in the Trans-Mediterranean Migration Forum in Tripoli, Libya on Wednesday.
Meloni stressed the importance of fighting against human trafficking.
“There are people making lots of money using the desperation of the fragile persons. And we cannot allow it, for these organizations are becoming very powerful, but they do not care about those human rights and human beings.”
Libya is a major route, albeit deadly, for migrants trying to reach Europe by crossing the Mediterranean Sea from different parts of Africa.
Migrants who reach the coast pay to board poorly equipped and crowded ships before they set off on risky sea journeys.
Italy is one of the main points of arrival on the other side of the Mediterranean.
According to the United Nations, more migrants and refugees in Africa are heading northward toward the Mediterranean and Europe, crossing perilous routes in the Sahara where criminal gangs subject them to enslavement, organ removal, rape, kidnapping for ransom and other abuses.
A recently released report by the UN refugee and migration agencies and the Mixed Migration Centre research group estimated that land routes in Africa are twice as deadly as the sea lanes across the Mediterranean, which is the deadliest maritime route for migrants in the world.
Meloni also made comments about the energy crisis in Europe and said that Europe and Africa should increase cooperation in this sector.
“We are facing many crises, but every crisis, hides also an opportunity,” Meloni said.
“Now we have a problem in Europe about energy sources. Africa is…. North Africa, but all Africa is potentially a huge producer of energy for itself mainly, but also that it could export,” she added.
Other participants in the forum include the prime ministers of Malta and Tunisia, as well as the European Union Commissioner Margaritis Schinas.
The forum is hosted by Libyan Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, who heads the Tripoli-based government