Mediterranean: Italian ship brings rescued migrants to Libya



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No access for boat people, investigations against rescuers, refusal for EU refugee centers: the Italian government takes a hard line in its asylum policy . Now, however, he could have reached a new taboo break. For the first time, an Italian ship brought migrants back to Libya.

The tug "Asso 28", who works on an oil rig in the Mediterranean, rescued 108 refugees from a canoe and took them to the port of Tripoli. A spokesman for the International Organization for Migration (IOM) confirmed that Asso 28 had gone to Libya. The details on the rescue of migrants are still unclear.

According to the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, the Italian Coast Guard, with a coordination center in Rome, told the captain of "Asso 28" to contact the Libyan Coast Guard. Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini denies that the Italian authorities have played no role in this action, saying that the Coast Guard insisted that the action "be coordinated by the Libyans "

declared on Twitter that the information in the case would be verified. "Libya is not a safe haven, and this law may have violated international law," the statement said.

No refuge in Libya

Some questions about the process surrounding the "Asso 28" are still open. It is still unclear whether the tug was in Libyan waters when the migrants were rescued. EU states are required by international maritime law and EU law to rescue people in distress and bring them to a safe place. However, Libyan ports are not considered safe and are not clbadified as such by Italy. In recent weeks, a spokesman for the Council of Europe has repeatedly stressed that no European ship should bring rescued refugees back to Libya as this would be contrary to EU principles. . In addition, the 108 migrants had no opportunity to apply for asylum. That too would be illegal.

Interior Minister Salvini has reinforced the growing isolation of his country against refugees since taking office. The right-wing populist politician recently commented on a similar topic through his social media channels.

Salvini wrote on Twitter: "The Libyan Coast Guard has rescued and sent back 611 migrants in recent hours, NGOs are protesting and the tugboats are losing their belongings … All right, let's continue like this!" Coast Guard Italian had neither coordinated nor participated in the rescue missions, he wrote on Facebook

Libya set up in late June its own search and rescue area, which also covers international waters. There, the Civil War Rescue Coordination Center is now responsible for coordinating operations and badigning ships a port. However, she can badign it to another control center.

Italy was sentenced by the European Court of Human Rights in 2012 for expelling Africans saved in the Mediterranean to Libya. With the repatriation, Italy had exposed these people to the danger of inhuman treatment, it was said in the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights [ad_2]
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