ROME, July 5 (Xinhua) -- The European Union (EU) should lift its arms embargo on Libya so it can fight migrant traffickers, Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini said here Thursday.
The embargo prohibits exporting weapons, ammunition, and related materials such as military vehicles and spare parts to Libya.
"Human traffickers don't care about the embargo and arm themselves any way they want," said Salvini, who also serves as interior minister. "They don't bother requesting authorizations from port authorities".
He spoke at a joint press conference with his Libyan counterpart Ahmed Maiteeq ahead of a meeting on migration between the interior ministers of Austria, Germany and Italy next week.
Maiteeq echoed his Italian colleague, saying that the embargo means his government can't properly equip its coast guard and police, which is detrimental to countries across the Mediterranean, such as Italy, that are the first landfall for migrant trafficker vessels.
"It is very important for the European Council to help us," he told reporters. "We request support for our interior ministry -- it is essential to the fight (against traffickers)".
"From a humanitarian point of view, we can't let people drown," the Libyan official said. "The most important thing is that the coast guard also protects Libya from all kinds of other traffickers, and this is in the interests of all."
On July 2, the Italian government announced it is donating an unspecified number of naval units to the Libyan Coast Guard in a bid to "increase their operational capacity" to fight human traffickers.
Also on Thursday, Salvini told reporters he has allocated 42 million euros for repatriations of migrants who don't qualify for political asylum, but that "pregnant women and children who are in Italy will stay, whether or not they fled from a war."
