Moscow ready to help solve Libyan refugees’ issue, also as part of UN Security Council - Lavrov

MOSCOW, June 1. /TASS/. Russia is ready to help solving the problem of Libya’s refugees, including as part of its work in the UN Security Council, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said after talks with his Italian counterpart Paolo Gentiloni on Monday. Russia is the second country in the world after the United States for the number of migrants. Over the past year, some 1 million people have come to Russia from the war-torn Donbass, he reminded. "We are interested in the international cooperation on the issue of regulating the rights of refugees, first of all with observing the norms of international humanitarian law in order not to allow the organizers of criminal business to enslave people and not to create normal conditions for them," Lavrov stressed. Russia understands very well the difficulties that Italy and also other EU countries are facing now amid the inflow of migrants and the surge in illegal migration through Libya of late, Lavrov said. "There are not only Libyans but also the citizens of other countries where the echo and the thunder of the conflict that hit Libya have come. People are running through Libya, this is a convenient route as Paolo Gentiloni said a criminal business is organized there with the transit of illegal migrants," he said. The Italian foreign minister confirmed that Italy and the EU are taking steps to establish cooperation between Libya and the UN on carrying out the effort aimed at stopping the migration flow. "Italy is not a member of the UN Security Council and therefore, it cannot participate in this process directly, but we are working as part of the UN on this issue," he said. "We understand that the document on this issue should have no half-words and it should be transparent as much as possible and of course, all the legal aspects that Mr. Lavrov has mentioned should be specified," Gentiloni said. Read more