New incident with the Libyan Coast Guard (V2)
(B2) A new incident takes place off the coast of Libya this Saturday morning (27 January), according to the sailors and the medical team of theAquarius.
Refusal of any assistance
The ship chartered by SOS Méditerranée was on a search mission for a rubber boat in distress, on the orders of the MRCC center in Rome, which coordinates all rescues in the Mediterranean, when a Libyan coastguard ship intervened. These ordered the crew of theAquarius keep their distance, and refused further assistance despite calls from the NGO ship (1). " We were only 100 meters away, the MSF team could see people's faces and hear their cries but were unable to provide any help » specifies the MSF team in a tweet. The Aquarius was forced off the scene, " team safety is paramount ».
?L'#Aquarius witness of 1 nlle interception by the Libyan coast guard, while he was looking for 1 dinghy in distress on the instructions of the #MRCC Rome. Cries & calls for help from pers. in distress heard, but #GCL ordered to #Aquarius to walk away & firmly refused assistance pic.twitter.com/65CW4wylov
– SOS MEDITERRANEE (@SOSMedFrance) 27th January 2018
Shelter, really?
But according to what members of the NGO gathered, the Libyan Coast Guard vessel then “pushed refugees and migrants back to Libya ". " This cannot be considered a 'rescue operation' the reality is that people are not being returned to a safe harbor protests the NGO.
NB: this is not the first time this type of incident. One particularly notable was in early November (read: 5 dead off Libya. Libyan Coast Guard indicted), to the point that it had raised official doubts about the formation of the Libyan coast guard by the Europeans. The Libyan coastguards are not up to the job,” stressed a European official (read: Migrants in Libya: the EU should not be ashamed of its role. A problem with the Libyan coast guard?).
An incident in territorial waters
It should be noted that this incident took place at a distance of 15 nautical miles from the Libyan coast, therefore strictly in international waters (outside the territorial limit 12 nautical miles from the coast). In addition, no Libyan relief zone has to date been recognized by the International Maritime Organization, in which Libyan ships would have a responsibility in relief and salvage operations (SSR, Search and rescue region) contrary to what the Libyan authorities sometimes claim.
(Nicolas Gros-Verheyde)