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Most migrants and refugees in Libya stated that migration policy has affected their plans in 2020. Specifically, ** percent of the respondents agreed that their plans were influenced by the recent policy, while ** percent denied that their plans had been affected.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the European Union and Libya have collaborated to prevent irregular immigration to Europe and migrant smuggling. New policies were introduced in 2020. The closure of Italian and Maltese ports led to a stronger focus on forcibly returning migrants to Libya while attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea. At the same time, local regulations in Libya were in place to prevent the spread of the virus, including the closure of borders and restriction of movement within the country. As a consequence, an increasing number of migrants and refugees were strongly affected and had to change their migration plans.