The German NGO Sea-Watch has accused the Italian Coast Guard of returning around 30 irregular migrants to Libya after they were rescued by the ship “Sea-Watch 3” in late April.
The Sea-Watch 3 rescued the migrants in the Mediterranean Sea and informed the Sea-Watch plane that the Italian Coast Guard had ordered them to return the migrants to Libya, based on instructions from the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre in Rome.
Sea-Watch confirmed that the migrants were later transported to Libya, where the captain of the Sea-Watch 3 gave orders to return the migrants. This is similar to what happened in 2018 when the captain of the ship “Asso 28” was sentenced to one year in prison by an Italian court for handing over 108 migrants to Libya after rescuing them.
The Italian Coast Guard denied giving any signals or orders to the captain of the Sea-Watch 3 to return the migrants to Libya. They stated that the distress call made by the migrants was within Libya’s administrative area, and therefore, the responsibility for rescue operations fell on the Libyan Coast Guard.
The accusation by Sea-Watch highlights the ongoing debate over the responsibility of European countries in the rescue and treatment of migrants in the Mediterranean. The situation in Libya, with its ongoing conflict and political instability, makes it a dangerous and unsuitable place to return migrants.