‘I told you TWO YEARS AGO’ Farage fury as EU warned terrorists could come in migrant boats
NIGEL Farage warned terrorists could try to travel to Europe on migrant boats in a speech two years ago - and is furious Eurocrats failed to heed his advice.
Nigel Farage: Immigrants will be a threat to our civilisation
The former UKIP leader erupted after Libyan prime minister Faiez Sarraj warned Brussels migrant terrorists travelling from Libya could cause devastation and “affect all of the EU” due to free movement.
Mr Sarraj said: “When migrants reach Europe, they will move freely.
“If, God forbid, there are terrorist elements among the migrants, a result of any incident will affect all of the EU.”
Almost 98,000 migrants are believed to have entered Italy from Libya in the last year, and they are able to freely cross borders across the continent thanks to the freedom of movement principle.
Almost 98,000 migrants are believed to have entered Italy from Libya in the last year
And Brexit champion Nigel Farage, who campaigned to leave the EU for 20 years, is furious nothing more was done to halt the migrant crisis.
Mr Farage, who gave the very same warning in a speech in Brussels in 2015, tweeted: “I warned Europe in 2015 that boats arriving from war-torn regions posed a huge threat. We are now paying the price.”
He added: “When ISIS said they would flood Europe with 500,000 Islamic extremists, Merkel and EU should have listened.
“They have now failed us all.”
I warned Europe in 2015 that boats arriving from war-torn regions posed a huge threat. We are now paying the price
In recent days Libya banned foreign ships from a stretch of water off its coast, prompting many NGOs to halt their search and rescue missions in a move welcomed by the Italian government.
Mr Sarraj has called on the EU to help secure the nation’s border and asked the UN to lift an embargo which stops Libya from purchasing arms.
The prime minister also said it was time to pressure African nations into taking back economic migrants.
Faiez Sarraj warned Brussels migrant terrorists travelling from Libya could cause devastation
Intelligence officials flag Libya as hot bed of ISIS terror
He told The Times the EU “must do more to us help face smuggling”.
The comments today come as a former Mafia boss revealed he has set up a “very strong” campaign to stop migrant boats from leaving Libya.
The armed group has based themselves in the seaside town of Sabratha, which is 45miles west of the capital Tripoli, and have been touted as a reason for a 50 per cent drop in arrivals in Italy compared to a year earlier.
Sources speaking to Reuters claim the new force is preventing migrants from leaving and is often locking them up.