By Emmanuel Nduka
Faced with the growing scourge of illegal migration from Libya into Italy and other parts of Europe, leaders of Turkey, Italy, and Libya’s Tripoli-based government convened in Istanbul on Friday, for a high-level trilateral summit focused on migration control and regional security.
The summit, hosted by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, brought together Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Libyan Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah to tackle the persistent instability in Libya, which has made the North African nation a major departure point for thousands of migrants seeking entry into Europe via perilous sea routes.
Libya has remained mired in conflict since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, with rival administrations backed by foreign militias vying for control. This chaos has created a vacuum exploited by human traffickers, who continue to ferry migrants across the Mediterranean, often under life-threatening conditions.
The Figures
A mid‑2024 IOM data identified around 761,322 migrants of 44 nationalities in Libya, up 5% from previous rounds. Approximately 90% of those migrants are African, with nearly 46% from sub‑Saharan Africa.
The data adds that in 2024, nearly 66,855 migrants crossed from North Africa to Southern Europe along the Central Mediterranean route, most departing via Libya.
The Africa Center reports that 146,000 Africans entered Europe irregularly in 2024 (including via Libya and other routes).
These figures underline the scale and severity of the illegal migration crisis from Africa through Libya into Europe. African migrants remain the overwhelming majority of those risking the Central Mediterranean route, and the humanitarian toll continues to be high.
To address this, the Meloni-led government in Italy has made the fight against irregular migration a policy priority, and the talks with Libya and Turkey form part of a broader strategy to curb migrant arrivals by reinforcing international cooperation.
“Libya remains a central node in the migrant route, and without a stable Libya, Europe’s borders remain vulnerable,” said an Italian diplomatic source close to the meeting. “This summit is about containing the fallout from that instability,” the source added.
While the trilateral discussions touched on enhanced security collaboration and improved migration management, the leaders acknowledged that a lasting solution will be difficult without political unity in Libya and a crackdown on transnational smuggling networks.
The Istanbul summit underscored the urgency of stabilizing Libya not only for the sake of regional peace, but also to prevent further humanitarian tragedies on the Mediterranean Sea, where hundreds of lives continue to be lost each year in failed crossings.
