Balancing human rights and security in the EU foreign policy: the case of Libya. Human rights violations in a refugee crisis context

Abstract

Libya’s conflict is one of the lengthy unsettled conflicts currently existent in the international order. The European Union (EU), as a core international actor supporting the resolution of the conflict, has provided a response in human rights (HR) issues as well as security. These two areas are essential in EU foreign policy (EU FP), which operates simultaneously with one another, considering the different positions of both inside EU FP - human rights being a legitimate aim and a value, whereas security a goal and priority. Nevertheless, in the situation of the refugee crisis context (from 2015 onwards) in Libya, areas under the field of security – such as border management – have experienced not only some issues when following their mandate due to the fragile situation in the country, but also the need to consider human rights in the centre of their activities. This is because human rights violations can create insecurities and in order to deal with them, military power is not enough to guarantee stability and security in the country. While the EU already specifies its activity as both, the research aims to demonstrate why more intersection between the fields of human rights and security under EU FP will benefit not only the position of the EU as an international actor in the conflict but more importantly, will promote a step forward on supporting the achievement of a political settlement as well as to guarantee sustainable peace in Libya. Keywords: Libya, European Union Foreign Policy, European Union, Human Rights, Security, Human Security