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Even though leaders were speaking here Friday, the Libyan Coast Guard said that about 100 migrants were missing at sea, many feared dead after their boat capsized off the Libyan coast.
The agreement also aims to limit the role of non-governmental agencies that transport migrants off the Libyan coast, often saving their lives, in Europe, an important "pull factor" in the wave migration. This would require agencies not to interfere with the Libyan Coast Guard in its efforts to control human smuggling.
Médecins Sans Frontières, a medical charity conducting rescue missions in the Mediterranean Sea, reacted bitterly. "European governments' policy condemns migrants to the horror of detention in Libya or drowning," the group said in a statement Friday.
But officials at the UN refugee agency are more cautious. screening centers that would preserve the rights of migrants and asylum seekers. Charlie Yaxley, a spokesman for the agency, said he was waiting for a legal analysis of the EU He noted that recently, for the fifth consecutive year, the "sad step" of 1,000 dead of migrants in the Mediterranean has been crossed.
Leonard Doyle, a spokesman for the International Organization for Migration said he was "very satisfied with the solidarity and consensus" that emerged from the summit, particularly with the front-line states like Italy.
Charles Michel, the Belgian Prime Minister, hailed the agreement
"This is a victory against the business model of human smugglers," said Michel. "This shows the will – even if there are nuances between us, sometimes even differences between us – to bring together and unite to find responsible European solutions to the challenge of migration, the fight for the free movement of people in Europe and for the protection of the external borders of Europe. "
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