SOS Humanity Accuses Libyan Coast Guard of Endangering Migrants in Mediterranean Rescue

German charity SOS Humanity has accused the Libyan coast guard of threatening its crew members while rescuing migrants in the Mediterranean Sea, causing at least one to drown. The rescue ship Humanity 1 was involved in a “life-threatening intervention” where many migrants were forced to jump into the water. The rescue ship managed to rescue 77 migrants, but many others were forced onto a Libyan coast guard boat, separating at least six family members from each other. At least one migrant drowned.

The European Union has been funding the Libyan coast guard since 2015 to stem the flow of migrants from North Africa towards Italy. As part of this deal, the coast guard intercepts migrants in Libyan and international waters and returns them to Libya. Libya has emerged as the dominant transit point for migrants fleeing war and poverty in Africa and the Middle East.

Human traffickers have benefited from the chaos in Libya, smuggling migrants across the country’s lengthy borders. Migrants are crowded onto ill-equipped vessels and set off on risky sea voyages. In 2023, at least 962 migrants were reported dead and 1,563 missing off Libya. Around 17,200 migrants were intercepted and returned to Libya last year.

Those who are intercepted and returned to Libya are held in government-run detention centers rife with abuses, including forced labor, beatings, rapes, and torture. The abuse often accompanies attempts to extort money from the families of the imprisoned migrants before allowing them to leave Libya on traffickers’ boats to Europe.