EU Tries to Salvage Libya Legacy With Military Training

Five years after a failed NATO-led intervention toppled former Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi, the EU has pledged to increase efforts to try and rebuild the fractured country. At a NATO defense ministers' meeting, the EU announced the launch of its training program for 78 heavily-vetted members of the Libyan Navy and Coast Guard.

The failure of the West's 2011 intervention in Libya has left a catastrophic legacy.

Dictator Muammar Gaddafi has been toppled but the country has been unstable in civil unrest ever since. Libya now faces the threat from Daesh fighters who have exploited the chaos between rival governments to extend their power.

Libya's new UN-backed government continues to falter and has requested that Europe help with security training of its forces to help defend themselves.

The European Union and NATO answered the call on Thursday, pledging to help the unity government in Tripoli.

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini announced that the EU's Naval Force's (EUNAVFOR's) Operation 'Sophia' mission in the Mediterranean has launched a training program for Libya's navy and coast guard.

It partly reflects not just Europe's role in the current Libyan debacle, but also the flow of migrants from Libya to Italy that is now part of Europe's worst migration crisis.

Mogherini said the training program will help Libyans "disrupt smuggling and trafficking in Libya and to perform search and rescue activities which will save lives and improve security in the Libyan territorial waters."

Italy active role in #EU capacity building courses for #Libya Coast Guard#opSOPHIA training to take place on IT boats
Focus on #humanrights pic.twitter.com/c8g6HBGLhR

— Sebastiano Cardi (@sebastianocardi) October 27, 2016​

It comes just days after at least 90 refugees drowned in Mediterranean after a boat capsized off the coast of Libya on Wednesday.

The news underscores the scale of the ongoing migrant crisis. 2016 has officially became the deadliest year on record for people trying to cross from Libya and Turkey to Europe.

Human rights organizations like UNHCR and Medicins Sans Frontieres, say more than 3,800 people have drowned or suffocated in overcrowded boats this year.

We're receiving more reports of deaths in the Med. We can now confirm that at least 3,800 people have died, making 2016 the deadliest ever.

— William Spindler (@SpindlerWilliam) October 26, 2016​

Last year, 3,771 migrants died while trying to reach Europe.

A deal between the EU and Turkey earlier this year largely closed off the eastern route from the Middle East to Europe through Turkey. This has resulted in even more migrants taking the more hazardous central Mediterranean route from Libya to Italy.

However, the humanitarian focus has not prevented some from being uneasy at the EU and NATO training Libyan forces.

The reality of Tripoli's unity government is that it is not united: Libya remains dominated by divided factions vying with each other for power, a fact that is hindering security.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg acknowledged on Thursday, that the "situation in Libya is not easy". Indeed the international community is struggling to shore up the UN-recognized government.

#NATO Secretary General details how NATO’s Operation Sea Guardian will support #EU’s Operation Sophia in the Central Mediterranean. pic.twitter.com/0AUuZjhyIY

— Oana Lungescu (@NATOpress) October 27, 2016​

But EU officials insist that the 78 Libyan Navy and Coast Guard members that are being trained, have been through a long process of vetting. Their training aboard the two Sophia vessels in international waters is also expected to include instruction in legal and human rights issues.

Meanwhile, with winter fast approaching, human rights groups warn that the death toll from migrants attempting to cross from Africa to Europe in worsening sea conditions is likely to rise.