Gunfire and violent assaults: the dangerous maneuver of the Libyan coast guard against a boat with migrants

A non-profit maritime rescue group on Thursday denounced the Libyan coast guard for chasing a boat full of migrants and shooting the little girl in a boat., in what appeared to be a violent maneuver to prevent him from crossing the Mediterranean Sea into Europe.

Members of the German Non-Governmental Group Sea-Watch they filmed the incident on Wednesday as they flew over the area on an observation mission.

“Those who shoot refugees and try to capsize their boats are not there to save them. The EU must immediately end its cooperation with the so-called Libyan Coast Guard, ”Felix Weiss said in a group statement released with the video.

In the images, filmed from the plane, A blue boat with a small engine and at least two dozen people on board are followed in circles at high speed by the Libyan Coast Guard.

During the persecution, which took place in International waters which are under the supervision and jurisdiction of Malta, men in uniform can be seen on the Libyan ship firing at least twice towards the ship, bullets hitting the water near the small boat. The Libyan Coast Guard nearly hit the ship several times.

Sea-Watch said it had communicated to the Libyan authorities by radio that they were endangering the lives of those on board the blue boat and urged them to stop firing. The Libyan Coast Guard responded in broken English that they were supposedly trying to rescue the migrants; however, the pictures show the opposite.

The Sea-Watch plane ran out of fuel and turned around before the end of the chase, according to the press release. He then received reports that the ship had reached the Italian island of Lampedusa on Thursday morning.

There was no immediate comment on the incident from Libya, Malta or the authorities of Lampedusa.

EU trains, equips and supports Libyan Coast Guard to intercept people attempting to cross the central Mediterranean to Europe. At least 723 people are known to have died or disappeared while taking this route in boats unfit to navigate so far this year.

Nearly 15,000 men, women and children have been intercepted by the Libyan Coast Guard and returned to the Libyan coast from the beginning of the year until June 26, a record number.

Over 20,000 migrants and refugees have died trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea to Europe since 2014. The stretch of the central Mediterranean between Italy and Libya has seen an increase in crossing attempts and deaths this year after a hiatus at the height of the pandemic.

With EU support, the Libyan Coast Guard stepped up the interception of migrant ships and returned those on board to Libya. But the UN and several other rights organizations have condemned their return to the war-torn country, where many are held in heinous detention centers, at risk of ill-treatment and torture.

(With AP information)

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