Niger detains suspected Libyan people smuggler: French police
Many West African migrants try to reach Libya in the hope of making it across the Mediterranean to a better life in Europe
Updated 31 December 2022
AFP
PARIS: Niger has arrested a Libyan suspected of smuggling thousands of migrants through the Sahel country toward Europe after a joint probe with the French and Spanish authorities, French police said on Friday.
The 29-year-old, who was detained on Dec. 20 in the Nigerien city of Agadez, told investigators he had overseen the departure of “60 migrants per week for seven years,” said Jean-Christophe Hilaire of the International Security Cooperation Directorate at the French Interior Ministry.
Pickup trucks had driven the migrants — most from Nigeria or Cameroon — to the border with Algeria or war-torn Libya for a fee of €1,500 to €2,000 ($1,600 to 2,100), he said.
The suspect is now being held in the capital Niamey, Hilaire said.
The EU-funded operation had been carried out with the help of three French and three Spanish policemen.
Many West African migrants try to reach Libya in the hope of making it across the Mediterranean to a better life in Europe.
They typically flock to the Nigerien city of Agadez, where smugglers offer to take them onwards to the Libyan border.
The government in Niamey adopted a law in 2015 to make migrant smuggling a crime, with sentences of up to 30 years in prison.
But a Nigerien security source has said the measure had only pushed smugglers to use “new, more dangerous routes.”
European policemen have been present in Niger since 2017.
Since then, 824 people have been arrested, the French Interior Ministry says.
EU, India successfully conclude major trade deal: New Delhi
Indian government officials say the pact, which was two decades in the making, will be unveiled Tuesday
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council president Antonio Costa appear as guests of honor at India’s Republic Day parade
Updated 3 sec ago
AFP
NEW DELHI: India and the European Union have finalized a massive free trade deal, Indian government officials said on Monday, about two decades after negotiations were first launched. Facing challenges from China and the United States, Brussels and New Delhi have sought closer ties, producing a pact that is to be unveiled in the Indian capital on Tuesday. Feted Monday as guests of honor at India’s Republic Day parade, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council president Antonio Costa are to meet Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a summit. “Official level negotiations are being concluded and both sides are all set to announce the successful conclusion” of talks at the Tuesday summit, Indian commerce secretary Rajesh Agrawal told AFP. The EU has eyed India — the world’s most populous nation — as an important market for the future, while New Delhi sees the European bloc as an important source of much-needed technology and investment to rapidly upscale its infrastructure and create millions of new jobs.
’Mother of all deals’
Bilateral trade in goods reached 120 billion euros ($139 billion) in 2024, an increase of nearly 90 percent over the past decade, according to EU figures, with a further 60 billion euros ($69 billion) in trade in services. India’s Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal has described the new pact as “the mother of all deals.” “Final negotiations have been focused and fruitful, and we are now very optimistic that we will land this historic trade deal,” an EU official said Monday speaking on condition of anonymity. Under the agreement, India is expected to ease market access for key European products, including cars and wine, in return for easier exports of textiles and pharmaceuticals, among other things. “The EU stands to gain the highest level of access ever granted to a trade partner in the traditionally protected Indian market,” von der Leyen said on Sunday, adding that she expected exports to India to double. “We will gain a significant competitive advantage in key industrial and agri-good sectors.” Talks went down to the wire on Monday, focusing on a few sticking points, including the impact of the EU’s carbon border tax on steel, according to sources familiar with the discussions. The accord comes as both Brussels and New Delhi have sought to open up new markets in the face of US tariffs and Chinese export controls. India and the EU were also expected to conclude an accord to facilitate movement for seasonal workers, students, researchers and highly skilled professionals, and a security and defense pact. “India and Europe have made a clear choice. The choice of strategic partnership, dialogue and openness,” von der Leyen wrote on social media. “We are showing a fractured world that another way is possible.” New Delhi, which has relied on Moscow for key military hardware for decades, has tried to cut its dependence on Russia in recent years by diversifying imports and pushing its own domestic manufacturing base. Europe is doing the same with regard to the United States.
