Meanwhile, Italy rejects Sea-Watch 5’s requests for a closer port to take 70 survivors, and the Moria 6’s appeal is postponed
THE EU-supported Libyan coastguard was accused today of causing the death of at least one person on Saturday when it interfered a rescue operation in the central Mediterranean this weekend.
The Humanity 1 rescue ship — operated by SOS Humanity — rescued 77 people from three overcrowded fibreglass boats in international waters 70km off the Libyan coast on Saturday afternoon.
Episode 57: People power vs the UK's Rwanda scheme – The Civil Fleet Podcast
During the rescue, the Libyan coastguard arrived in a patrol ship provided and financed by the EU and Italian government.
Four men, some armed with guns, approached the scene in a smaller boat, driving erratically between the survivors and the rescuers.
They fired a shot into the water, causing the survivors to panic. Many jumped into the water and swam toward the rescuers. In the ensuing chaos, at least one person drowned and others were taken by the Libyans.
Italy’s highest court ruled in February that handing people over to the Libyan coastguards is unlawful because the country is not safe.
“It is unbelievable to see how this so-called coastguard, financed by the EU and Italy, is breaking the law and brutally endangering human lives,” said Laura Gorriahn, SOS Humanity president, who is aboard the Humanity 1.
“This support led to at least one person drowning on Saturday, endangering numerous people and forcing around twenty people back to Libya in violation of international law.
“The patrol boat that interrupted our rescue operation by force of arms was apparently one of the two ships that were financed and delivered by the EU in the second half of 2023.
“It is outrageous that European citizens’ taxes are being used to support an actor that threatens and shoots at people in distress, as well as those helping them.
“We appeal to the EU member states to finally set up an EU sea rescue programme in the central Mediterranean that ensures compliance with maritime law and human rights – as promised by the German government in its coalition agreement.”
The Italian authorities ordered the Humanity 1 to take the rescued to Bari, far to the north and hundreds of nautical miles away from where the rescue took place – the equivalent distance in UK terms from the southern tip of Cornwall to Inverness.
However, after persistent requests from the Humanity 1’s captain for a close port due to a storm forecast on the route, the authorities told the ship to sail to Crotone, southern Italy.
Meanwhile, the Italian authorities refused to provide another rescue ship with a closer port after assigning it Reggio Calabria, hundreds of nautical miles away.
The Sea-Watch 5 saved 70 people in two operations on Sunday night. The authorities then ordered the ship to head to Reggio Calabria, right on the southern toe of Italy.
A Sea-Watch‘s Oliver Kulikowski told The Civil Fleet that the ship “can’t head north to Reggio Calabria, the port Italy assigned us, because up to four-metre high waves make it too dangerous.
“Travelling there would take around four days, so seeking shelter near Lampedusa is our only option, since Italy rejected the transshipment of our guests.
“We urgently demand Italy to assign us a closer port now.”
Elsewhere, in Greece, four of the six people accused of burning down the Moria refugee camp on the Aegean island of Lesbos in September 2020 were due to have their appeal heard today, but it was postponed until Wednesday, March 6.
The four Afghans were jailed for 10 years in 2021 for starting a fire that destroyed Europe’s largest and most notorious refugee camp, which human rights organisations said was not up to legal standards.
Greek authorities left about 12,000 people without help for days after the camp, originally built to house 3,000, was destroyed by the blaze before a new camp was hastily built on a former military firing range.
The other two of the Moria 6, as campaigners refer to them, were sentenced to five years in a juvenile prison in March 2021.
Top image shows a Libyan coastguard boat approaching one of the Humanity 1’s Rhibs as they try to carry out a rescue [Pic: SOS Humanity Camilla Kranzusch]
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