EU adds €25 million for eastern Libya migration controls as rights safeguards remain unclear

The new money extends EU cooperation into eastern Libya

The European Union signed an additional €25 million agreement to support border management, search and rescue and anti-smuggling activity in eastern Libya, according to an October 13 Reuters report based on a letter from European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to EU leaders. The move deepens engagement with authorities in territory controlled by Khalifa Haftar even though the EU formally recognizes the Tripoli-based government in western Libya. [1][2][4]

Reuters said the expansion follows a July plan for a Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre in Benghazi. The EU naval mission Operation Irini publicly lists training and capacity-building for Libyan law-enforcement and maritime search-and-rescue institutions among its tasks. The reviewed public EU pages do not yet identify the €25 million’s implementing partners, disbursement timetable, procurement, monitoring indicators or complaint mechanism. [1][3][2]

EU officials frame the expansion as rescue, border control and anti-smuggling policy

Von der Leyen’s letter, as reported by Reuters, describes Libya as the leading country of departure for irregular crossings to the EU and says the bloc is also working with the International Organization for Migration on voluntary return to countries of origin. A September statement from Libya’s Tripoli-based Foreign Ministry said migration and security cooperation with the EU were discussed at the UN General Assembly. That statement confirms broader engagement but does not describe the new eastern funding or speak for eastern authorities. [1][4]

The European Commission says that more than two-thirds of roughly €220 million in EU migration programs for Libya adopted from 2021 through 2024 went to protection, voluntary humanitarian return and evacuation. That historical program total is not the budget for the new eastern agreement and does not show how the additional €25 million will be divided. [2]

Returns to Libya carry documented risks of detention and abuse

A February report jointly published by the UN human rights office and the UN Support Mission in Libya documented systematic violence against migrants, asylum seekers and refugees, including arbitrary detention, torture, sexual violence, forced labor and killings. It called for a moratorium on returning intercepted boats to Libya until rights and safety can be ensured. The report covered January 2024 through December 2025 and was based in part on interviews with nearly 100 people; it does not establish that every person or institution connected to the new EU funding committed an abuse. [5][6]

Amnesty International reported in June that both rival Libyan authorities had carried out thousands of arrests, arbitrary detention and collective expulsions amid xenophobic rhetoric. It argued that deeper EU cooperation with eastern forces risked complicity in abuses. The European Commission told Reuters at the time that it was strengthening monitoring to keep EU-funded programs aligned with legal obligations and values. Amnesty’s complicity claim is an advocacy organization’s legal and policy assessment, not a court judgment. [7][8]

A pending Frontex case shows why data-sharing details matter

The Associated Press reported on October 1 that a Sudanese refugee, supported by advocacy groups, sued the EU border agency Frontex over allegations that aerial-surveillance information facilitated interception and return to Libya. Frontex denied direct communication with the Libyan coast guard and said it shares sightings with rescue coordination centers to save lives. The lawsuit has not produced a final finding, but it illustrates why the identity of recipients, rescue instructions, disembarkation location and independent monitoring are consequential details in the new eastern arrangement. [9]

How the sources compare