Thirteen European sea rescue organizations have announced they will end all operational communication with Libya's maritime rescue coordination center, accusing the Libyan coast guard of systematic violence and human rights abuses. The newly formed alliance also criticized EU governments for financing and collaborating with Libya and Tunisia over migration control.
Several European civilian sea rescue organizations have announced a collective cut in communications with Libya’s maritime authorities, citing a decade of violent clashes and human rights violations. In Brussels on Wednesday (November 5), a coalition of 13 NGOs, including Sea-Watch, SOS Humanity, Sea-Eye, Resqship, and Mission Lifeline, declared they would no longer maintain operational contact with the maritime rescue coordination center in Tripoli.
The decision comes as part of the founding of a new umbrella alliance called the Justice Fleet, which aims to defend "human rights at sea" and counter what it describes as the European Union's complicity in abuses against migrants in the Central Mediterranean. The coalition, which includes 14 ships, one aircraft, and more than 10,000 activists, said it would share "resources and expertise" to "publicly denounce and repel political oppression."
The organizations are rejecting growing pressure from the EU and Italy to communicate with the Libyan coast guard, an actor that, according to a new report by Sea-Watch, has committed "over 60 brutal acts of violence in the past ten years," the joint statement said.
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Libya coast guard should be considered illegitimate actor, alliance says
For years, rescue groups have accused the Libyan coast guard of intercepting migrants at sea and returning them to detention centers where torture, rape, and violence have been reported by rights groups and journalists. According to an October Sea-Watch report, there have been 60 violent incidents involving Libyan authorities since 2016, including "shooting, ramming and blocking maneuvers against rescue ships, threats and intimidation of crews, and assaults on people in distress."
Based on several court rulings, the organizations said the Libyan coast guard should be regarded as an illegitimate actor at sea. "We will not be forced to hand over our operational positions to EU-funded armed militias who shoot at those seeking protection and our rescue teams," said Janna Sauerteig of SOS Humanity. She added, "We will not be forced to hand over refugees to the Libyan coast guard. We will continue to rescue people in distress at sea."
Sea-Watch spokeswoman Giulia Messmer stressed that "It is not only our right, but our duty to treat armed militias as such, and not as legitimate actors in rescue operations."
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'Libya must no longer serve as Europe’s mega-prison'
The Justice Fleet slammed Italian authorities, accusing them of "bureaucratic sabotage" that hinders rescue missions in the Mediterranean. The alliance also condemned European governments’ ongoing cooperation with Libya and Tunisia to curb irregular migration.
"Libya must no longer serve as Europe's 'mega-prison and battlefield,'" the organizations stated. "There should be no boats, no money, and no training for Libyan militias."
According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), more than 32,800 people have died or disappeared on the central Mediterranean route since 2014, one of the world’s deadliest migration paths. In response, the Justice Fleet said it would continue to operate independently of state authorities to uphold international law and protect lives at sea, calling on the German government and the EU to end cooperation with Libya’s armed forces.
"We are united by one mission," the coalition’s statement concluded, "to ensure that no one is left to die at sea, and no one is sent back to a place of violence."
With AFP, Lusa, KNA and EPD