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With intensified fighting in Libya, the number of refugees fleeing violence is reaching 300,000. This has prompted the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) spokesperson Melissa Fleming to “appeal again to all parties to ensure safe passage for all civilians fleeing violence.”

Daniel Williams from Human Rights Watch argues “One of the contradictions in Western policy is that while there are bombs falling to protect civilians in Libya, the European countries are not welcoming these refugees.”

Given that European countries are involved in the conflict, are they doing enough for those displaced by the violence?

Italian Interior Minister Roberto Maroni is following a radically different tack by suggesting that "NATO, for example, which has ships off the Libyan coast…could be required to stop people from leaving. It would be a solution to the problem."

Since Europe lacks enthusiasm for hosting these victims of war, could the EU instead provide technical and financial support for the accomodation of refugees in Egypt and Tunisia?

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Photo Credit: Melissa Fleming, Spokesperson at UNHCR.