Armed men disrupt Mediterranean migration boat rescues

An operation to rescue 93 asylum seekers and migrants onboard a wooden fishing boat off the coast of Libya took a dangerous turn on 9 July. As workers from the search and rescue NGO SOS Méditerranée were evacuating people from the vessel, two dinghies carrying armed, masked men arrived on the scene. Two of the men boarded the fishing boat, prompting the remaining asylum seekers and migrants onboard to jump into the sea.

A spokesperson from SOS Méditerranée told the Guardian that it was unclear who the men were, although it was clear they were Libyan. “The people onboard, many who couldn’t swim, were so afraid of being taken back to Libya that they chose to throw themselves into the sea. They preferred to die in the sea rather than return to Libya – we often hear this from shipwreck survivors,” the spokesperson said.

Such incidents are not uncommon in the central Mediterranean. A similar one occurred on 10 July during a rescue being carried out by a search and rescue boat run by Médecins Sans Frontières – this one involving interference by a boat from the Stability and Support Apparatus for Libya, a Libyan security institution. In both cases all of the asylum seekers and migrants involved were rescued by the NGOs.

Since 2017, the EU and its member states have been providing training, equipment, and support to the Libyan Coast Guard to intercept asylum seekers and migrants attempting to cross the sea to Europe. Libyan militia groups have also learned that they can curry favour with the EU and gain political advantage in Libya by presenting themselves as partners in the effort to clamp down on migration.

Search and rescue NGOs operating in the central Mediterranean have reported on numerous occasions over the years that the Libyan Coast Guard has opened fire in the direction of boats carrying asylum seekers and migrants and performed dangerous manoeuvres that risked capsizing the vessels.

Asylum seekers and migrants taken back to Libya face a well-documented cycle of detention and abuse. But since 2014, European countries have progressively withdrawn their navies and coast guards from performing search and rescue operations in the central Mediterranean and have cracked down on the NGOs that stepped in to try to fill the gap.

Legislation passed by Italy’s far-right government in 2022 requires NGO boats to return to port after each rescue they complete, effectively barring them from performing multiple rescues. Italian maritime authorities also regularly assign NGO boats ports in the north of Italy to disembark the people they have rescued, reducing the amount of time they are able to spend looking for people in distress at sea. And Italian authorities often impound the NGO boats for alleged infractions, preventing them from setting sail for weeks or months at a time.

More than 26,000 asylum seekers and migrants have arrived in Italy by sea so far this year and at least 884 have died or disappeared attempting the journey. More than 9,500 have been intercepted and returned to Libya.

To better understand the EU’s migration policies in the central Mediterranean, check out this interactive explainer: