New political, social, economic and legal policies, which acknowledge that Libya is likely to lack a strong state for a while and that push factors in Libya and its neighbouring countries will maintain the current migration pressure, are needed. One initiative the EU can undertake is to economically support border communities. The latter rely heavily on smuggling and trafficking as it is often their sole source of income. The EU could assist these communities by supporting and bringing expertise to Libyan authorities in managing to separate the trade in illegal goods (e.g. wheat, flour, petrol or tobacco) from the more detrimental smuggling business. Trade of goods could be decriminalised, hence giving the border communities other options than smuggling or trafficking to sustain a livelihood. Since the partition, the Libyan territory has been divided and many areas remain ungoverned. In some places, local authorities, councils or municipalities represent the only legitimate and present institution. The EU should therefore also involve local communities and authorities and engage with them to expand its reach, enhance capacity-building and encourage anti-smuggling efforts. While considering local actors can be beneficial state institutions cannot be ignored. In 2014, the EU decided on a non-engagement policy with Tripoli, yet such state institutions are at the forefront of the management of migration control and monitoring. Cooperation and relations with essential actors needs to be re-strengthened. Access to detention centres in Libya is scarce due to the political and security situation, thus permitting continued human rights violations. To put an end to them, the EU should therefore support and push for organisations such as the UNHCR and the IOM or local organisations to have constant and safe access to detention centres in order to monitor the situation and prevent violations. The EU could also organise visits of its own investigators from various member states or Europol for example. The altogether closure of these centres should also be considered if more efficient readmission agreements of illegal migrants can be found.>