France announces plan to vet asylum-seekers in Libya

French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb and French President Emmanuel Macron pose with Aurelie Dion as she becomes a French citizen during a ceremony in Orleans, central France, on Thursday. (AFP)

ORLEANS, France: France will set up processing centers in Libya for asylum seekers trying to reach Europe across the Mediterranean, President Emmanuel Macron announced on Thursday.
鈥淭he idea is to create hotspots to avoid people taking crazy risks when they are not all eligible for asylum. We鈥檒l go to them,鈥� Macron said during a visit to a refugee shelter in central France, adding the plan would be put in place 鈥渢his summer,鈥� with or without other EU countries.
But officials in the French presidency cast doubt on whether the centers could be established that quickly, saying the security conditions were 鈥渘ot yet in place.鈥�
Libya is the main launchpad for African migrants trying to reach Europe across the Mediterranean in rickety boats operated by smugglers that frequently sink.
Macron鈥檚 announcement came two days after he brokered talks in Paris between the leaders of the two rival authorities in the war-torn country, who committed to a conditional cease-fire.
Presenting the agreement, Macron said he hoped a return to stability in Libya would check the outflow of migrants.
Since January, more than 100,000 people have made the perilous voyage across the water, according to the International Organization for Migration. More than 2,300 have drowned this year in the attempt.
The vast majority land in Italy 鈥� the EU country closest to north Africa 鈥� which has complained of a lack of solidarity from its neighbors in dealing with the influx.
Macron said he would send officials from the French asylum bureau to help out in Italy. 鈥淚 am also ready to send some to Libya,鈥� he said, adding he was ready to go it alone, if necessary.
鈥淥ther European countries are very reticent. We鈥檒l try to do it with Europe but we in France will do it,鈥� he insisted.
The plan appeared to take the EU by surprise but Natasha Bertaud, European Commission spokeswoman, said the bloc was 鈥渙pen to discussing with any and all of our member states鈥� ways to improve the situation in the Mediterranean.
France鈥檚 new leader has taken an ambivalent line on migration.
During his campaign, he was fulsome in his praise of German Chancellor Angela Merkel鈥檚 open-door policy but his government has taken a hard line with young migrants sleeping rough on the streets of the northern French port of Calais.
Rights groups have complained that riot police routinely use tear gas and pepper spray to break up the migrants鈥� camps.
At the shelter in the central city of Orleans, where Macron met two families 鈥� one from Syria and another from Republic of Congo 鈥� Macron adopted a more compassionate tone.
鈥淲e have between 800,000 and a million people in Libya 鈥� in camps, hangars, there鈥檚 not even a minimum of humanity,鈥� he said.
He also made it his mission to find 鈥渄ignified鈥� accommodation for those who made it to France.
鈥淚 want no one in the streets or in the forests by the end of the year,鈥� he said.
But he also warned that those who were fleeing poverty, rather than war or persecution, faced disappointment.
鈥淣o country can take all the economic migrants,鈥� he said.