Italy wants Libya’s coastguard to take responsibility, within three years, for intercepting migrants across about a tenth of the Mediterranean, even as Libyan crews struggle to patrol its own coast and are accused of making deadly mistakes at sea.
Hundreds of thousands of migrants have attempted to cross the Mediterranean to Europe since 2014 with over 3,000 have died en route this year alone, many after passing through Libya.
The Italian plan shows that Italy and the European Union are focusing on rebuilding Libya’s Navy and Coastguard so they can stop boats. However, aid groups say the Libyans are poorly trained accusing them of mishandling a rescue last month, in which some 50 people are thought to have died.
“From the testimony we hear from the migrants, we know that people intercepted at sea have then re-entered the circle of violence and imprisonment and abuse that they were fleeing,” said Nicola Stalla, search-and-rescue chief for SOS Mediterranee.
The Libyans return all migrants, including refugees, to Libya even though the situation on the ground is far from being resolved. Italy has also been coordinating rescues off the Libyan coast since 2013.
The Libyan government recently entered into an agreement with Italy to establish a joint operations room for tackling migrant smugglers and traffickers. Italy supplied Libya with four refurbished vessels, and six more have been promised, while the EU has trained about 220 Libyan Coastguards.
About 44 million euros ($52 million) is to be spent to expand Libya’s capacity by 2020, equipping the Coastguard and enabling it to establish its own rescue coordination centre, as well as a vast maritime search-and-rescue region. It also foresees a pilot project for monitoring Libya’s Southern border. The project draws on the European Union and Italian funds and needs EU approval.
Libya’s Coastguard has already been pushing further into international waters, often firing warning shots or speeding close to charity boats. Over the summer, three charities abandoned rescue operations in part, because of fears of the increasing Libyan sea presence.
Arrivals to Italy have fallen by two-thirds since July from the same period last year after officials working for U.N.-backed government in Tripoli, Italy’s partner, persuaded smugglers in the city of Sabratha to stop boats from leaving.
The Libyan coastguard also increased the rate of its interceptions, turning back about 20,000 boats this year, though it still only stops a portion of the boats.
