Migrants causing 'economic chaos' as refugees transfer £5 billion overseas

Migrants await their fate (Image: Getty)

Migrants are transferring as much as £5 billion overseas, according to a senior Government minister in Libya. The money transfers are causing serious damage to the national economy, draining the government's finances, he added.

Libya claims there are around three million illegal immigrants living on its territory. The country has signed a deal with the EU to manage migration to the continent, in an effort to stem the influx of refugees from Africa. Brussels has funded Libya to the tune of around €465 million between 2015 and 2021 to act as its immigration enforcer.

Imad Trabelsi is Libya's Interior Minister (Image: Getty)

The EU has also allocated a further €65 million for "protection and border management" between 2021 and 2027, according to AFP.

However, this has led to many immigrants settling in the territory under the control of the Government of National Unity. Interior minister Imad Trabelsi told reporters on Tuesday that the country intends to increase the number of repatriations in the coming weeks and months.

He claimed that the migrants were damaging the local economy by sending billions of pounds overseas.

“According to our estimates, migrants send $600 million to their families every month, which is more than US $7 billion a year," he explained.

"And this money goes to the black market, which hurts the national economy, as it is considered a drain on oil revenues and the Central Bank of Libya’s reserves.”

Despite receiving millions of euros from Brussels, the minister called on the EU to provide further assistance.

Trabelsi has proved to be a controversial appointment, having been chosen for the job by Libya's prime minister, Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, in November 2023.

He was arrested in March 2023 at Charles de Gaul Airport in Paris after being found “carrying a large sum of cash”, before being released several hours later.

Moreover, he has been accused by his critics of violating human rights.

Ahmed Hamza - the head of the National Commission for Human Rights in Libya - called Trabelsi “one of the most prominent violators of human rights and international humanitarian law in Libya.”