3. Background Libya is both a transit and destination country for migrants. 9 People on the move include individuals migrating because of conflict and persecution, but also, inter alia, extreme poverty, and lack of access to decent work, education, and healthcare. From the 1970s to the 1990s, the Government of Libya encouraged migration from other Arab countries but also from all of Africa, to help meet the domestic labour needs. Since the early 2000s, Libya has been a key transit country for reaching Europe irregularly, particularly for migrants from sub-Saharan African countries including Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Ghana, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Somalia and Sudan, as well as other countries in North Africa and western Asia. From the 2000s onwards, Libya began to be more restrictive in its approach to migrants, in part in response to pressure from European countries. Visa requirement for all nationalities, except for those from countries in the Maghreb region, were introduced, along with policies of detention and deportation of irregular migrants.10 Bilateral agreements signed between Italy and Libya from 2007 to 2009 included provisions to address irregular migration, which led to migrants being intercepted in international waters and returned to Libya (otherwise known as “pushbacks”). In 2012, the European Court of Human Rights found that in returning migrants arbitrarily from international waters to Libya and by exposing migrants from Somalia and Eritrea to the risk of ill-treatment in Libya, Italy had violated the European Convention on Human Rights, specifically the right to non-refoulement and collective expulsion.11 The current policy of Italy as a State, and the European Union as a regional organisation, is that no person rescued by an Italian or a European Union vessel shall be taken to Libya. As articulated in relation to Operation Sophia, “all of the activities undertaken in each phase adhere to and respect international law, including human rights, humanitarian and refugee law and the ‘non-refoulement’ principle meaning that no rescued persons can be disembarked in a third country”.12 9 For further information see “DTM Libya Flow Monitoring Analysis, September – October 2016” report, p.9, International Organization for Migration, which notes that “"Libya was the destination country for the majority of migrants surveyed. 56% of all respondents reported Libya as their destination country, while 17% reported Italy as the country of intended destination. The remaining 27% reported 34 other countries”. The report is available at http://www.globaldtm.info/dtm-libya-flow-monitoring-survey-analysis-september-october-2016/ 10 For further background, see Assessment of Priorities for the Development of Libya’s Migration Policies: A Strategic Vision, Final Report to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) by Eurasylum Ltd., November 2014 and Immigration Detention in Libya by Mariette Grange and Michael Flynn, Global Detention Project, February 2015, and Migration Policy Centre- Migration Profile, Libya, Migration Policy Centre, June 2013. 11 The Case of Hirsi Jamaa and Others v. Italy (Application No. 27765/09), Judgement, European Court of Human Rights, Strasbourg, 23 February 2012. See also Intervener brief filed on behalf of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (filed pursuant to leave granted by the Court on 4 May 2011), Hirsi et al v Italy (Application No. 27765/09), European Court of Human Rights. 12 See European Union Naval Force - Mediterranean Operation Sophia, Fact Sheet, 30 November 2016, http://eeas.europa.eu/csdp/missions-and-operations/eunavfor-med/pdf/factsheet_eunavfor_med_en.pdf 5