"Humanitarian or threat" motivation: the troubled role of the Libyan coastguard
On March 18, 36 miles off the coast of Libya, the "Ocean Viking" rescued this boat at the request of the Libyan coast guards.
© Guilhem Delteil / RFI
Text by: Guilhem Delteil Follow
7 mins
The
Ocean Viking
, the boat of the NGO SOS Méditerranée, completed its 11th rescue mission in the central Mediterranean this week.
He arrived Tuesday at the Italian port of Augusta where the 116 people he rescued off the Mediterranean were able to disembark.
The crew carried out two interventions and one of them disturbs the role played by the Libyan security forces.
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From our special correspondent aboard the
Ocean Viking,
Thursday, March 18: As the day just broke, the
Ocean Viking
rescuers
were already all ready to go into action.
The SOS Mediterranean boat had received an alert from the NGO Alarm Phone, an emergency telephone line for migrants in distress, and was looking for a boat possibly in great difficulty.
While the search is in full swing, the
Ocean Viking
receives a radio call.
“'
Ocean Viking
', '
Ocean Viking
', '
Ocean Viking
',”
calls out a voice without introducing himself.
Nicola Stalla, Search and Rescue Coordinator responds.
The voice then resumes: “
We have two sick people, two sick people.
The call comes from a Libyan coastal security star patrolling the area.
The man evokes a small fiberglass boat, a model regularly used by Libyan fishermen, on which passengers, including patients, need, he says, to be evacuated.
The call itself was in accordance with maritime procedures: the
Ocean Viking
was then in international waters but in the
Libyan search and rescue zone.
Since June 2018, the Libyan authorities are supposed to coordinate search and rescue activities for boats in distress.
Until then, this role had been played by Italy, but Europe - and Rome in the lead - pushed Tripoli to take control of this part of the Mediterranean.
Except that according to the non-governmental organizations which provide aid to migrant boats, this transfer of skills has led to the disappearance of an authority coordinating operations in this area.
The place left by Italy, they say, has never been occupied by Libya.
"
The Libyan rescue coordination center has never been able to provide this coordination, which was so effective with the maritime rescue center in Rome,
"
lamented to RFI Nicola Stalla.
“
Since then, it's been a bit like working blind.
"
This request for intervention by the Libyan authorities was therefore unusual.
The request came from an official authority and the
Ocean Viking
having a medical module to take care of people declared sick, the crew launched an intervention.
Eleven people were in the fiberglass boat: the women and children were suffering from vomiting, confirms the doctor from the aid ship.
The passengers are therefore evacuated from their boat to be taken on the
Ocean Viking
.
But as the intervention ended, one of them remained in the small boat and expressed his desire to return to Libya.
As the boat began to take on water, rescuers insisted on taking it with them.
But he reiterates his refusal and tries to relight the engine of his small boat to go away.
His tests were unsuccessful: the engine seemed to be flooded.
He then repeats his refusal to board the NGO boat and reassures aid workers: he will call the star of coastal security to the rescue.
The SOS Méditerranée crew therefore returned to the
Ocean Viking
.
And from the bridge, watch the Libyan boat approach the small boat: the man gets on board and the speedboat leaves, towing the small boat behind it.
Of the eleven passengers who were on board, ten board the SOS Méditerranée boat, but the eleventh leaves with the Libyan coast guard.
© Guilhem Delteil / RFI
The behavior questioned: who was this man and what connection did he have with the coastal security men?
"
I
l
was one of them.
He works for the government, ”
one of the people rescued told RFI.
According to several testimonies collected, the coastal security star boarded the boat fleeing Libya a few minutes before contacting the
Ocean Viking
.
"
About a quarter of an hour,
"
said one of the witnesses.
“
He approached us.
He was armed.
And he tells us to choose
:
".. There are NGOs that not very far we can take you to them and you leave with your boat Or we take you back to Libya"
, "
says another.
He assures that he has not paid any money to this man but estimates that the sale of the boat can bring in between
“
40,000
and 50,000
dinars
”
(between 7,500 and 9,500 euros).
Two days later, a Libyan Coastal Security frigate again approached the
Ocean Viking
and resumed contact with the crew by radio.
The man on the phone said he was worried about the story made on Twitter by SOS Méditerranée of the intervention the day before.
He reiterates that the star requested an intervention of the
Ocean Viking
for
"
humanitarian reasons
"
, repeating that some people were sick.
But confirming part of the testimony of those rescued, he wishes to emphasize that the speedboat did not bring the boat from the coast.
The man also specifies that they belong to the general administration of coastal security and not to the coast guards.
Both branches are responsible for coastal surveillance but the first (GACS according to the acronym) depends on the Ministry of the Interior and the second on the Ministry of Defense.
These two agencies are supported by the European Union in the fight against illegal immigration.
Brussels has set up a border assistance mission in Libya to help the Libyan authorities to control their borders, and thus illegal departures to European territory.
In 2020, the two branches of Libyan coastal security intercepted 11,891 people trying to leave Libya by sea;
a figure up almost 30% compared to the previous year.
And according to a
report
obtained by the NGO Statewatch, which monitors civil liberties in Europe, the EU intends to extend its border assistance mission for two more years at an estimated cost of between 67 and 70 million. euros.
A
project
funded by the European Union and Italy recently enabled the renovation of two stars for the GACS.
These stars were delivered last October.
One of them is the boat that approached the
Ocean Viking
last week.
Upon receipt of these two stars, director of coastal security, General Mohamed Ahmed Alfituri had assured to have a
"
common purpose
"
with the EU:
"
The
was
against trafficking and organized crime
"
.
But given the events of the past week, the goal may need to be reaffirmed.
►
Reread the diary of the third week on Ocean Viking
►
Reread the diary of the second week on Ocean Viking
► Reread the logbook of the first week on Ocean Viking
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