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German charity SOS Humanity accused the Libyan Coast Guard fired live bullets and resorting to violence as its crew rescued migrants in the Mediterranean Sea recently
The head of Frontex, the European Border and Security Guard Agency insisted that the coast guard agency must inform Libyan authorities about migrant boats in trouble in the country’s waters. This diktat has come after a charity accused Libya’s coast guard of threatening its crew during a rescue operation.
As reported by www.trendsnafrica.com, German charity SOS Humanity accused the Libyan Coast Guard of firing live bullets and resorting to violence as its crew rescued migrants in the Mediterranean Sea recently.
The charity said several migrants aboard three unseaworthy boats had to jump into the water. It rescued 77 people but others were forced aboard a coast guard vessel. Some family members were separated. At least one migrant drowned.
Frontex uses aircraft, drones, and other equipment to monitor the EU’s outside borders, including in international waters. Libya’s vast search and rescue area in the Mediterranean reaches well beyond its maritime border to almost halfway to the Italian island of Lampedusa. The agency provides the Libyan Coast Guard with the location of boats that it believes are in danger.
Frontex is obliged by international law to report such incidents to appropriate authorities. Not to inform them would be playing with the lives of the migrants. The EU has funded the Libyan coast guard since 2015 as part of its effort to stop migrants from the North African country from reaching Italy. The Coast Guard intercepts migrants in Libya and international waters and returns them to Libya.
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According to the International Organization for Migration’s Missing Migrants Project, at least 962 migrants were reported dead and 1,563 others missing in Libya in 2023. Around 17,200 migrants were intercepted and returned to Libya last year. Frontex sources asserted that it lacked a mandate, sufficient funds, and equipment to carry out rescue work.
