During a meeting in Rome, Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel and Italy’s Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte discussed the role of Libya’s controversial coast guard and the distribution of migrants across the European Union. Both called for increased cooperation among EU member states.
Malta has signed a ‘secret deal’ with Libyan authorities to intercept migrants before they reach Maltese waters and take them back to Libya, the ‘The Times of Malta’ has reported. The Maltese government denies the charge.
Italy will not halt its 2017 Memorandum of Understanding with Libya, but the government pledged that it will work to improve the deal, "with special attention to migrant centers and conditions."
Libya's interim national unity government has issued a decree forcing NGOs running migrant rescue vessels to obtain the permission of Libyan authorities to carry out search and rescue missions in Libyan waters. Italian non-profit Arci said the measure "criminalizes NGOs."
Italian Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese and representatives from NGOs working in migrant search and rescue in the Mediterranean met on Friday. The ministry called the gathering "a first step for the start of a direct dialogue between the parties."
Libyan authorities fired warning shots in the air and pointed mounted guns at rescuers and migrants, according to the humanitarian group Sea-Eye. A group spokesman said the act was unprecedented.
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has called on EU member states to relaunch a naval rescue operation in the Mediterranean. The body, which is not related to the European Union, highlighted that it is the duty of EU member states "not to let people drown in the Mediterranean."
Libya's coast guard rescued 71 migrants stuck at sea over the weekend. While none of them were hurt, some required medical attention upon their return to Libya, according to reports. The migrants have reportedly since left the care of Libyan authorities.
An Italian newspaper claims that three of the 40 rescued migrants who came to Italy in June with German NGO ship Sea-Watch 3 ran a migrant detention center near in Libya where migrants were tortured. Police allegedly concealed their arrest, which happened on the day of their disembarkation.
The European Union has extended Operation Sophia, its anti-migrant-smuggling mission along the Libyan Mediterranean coast, by six months to the end of March 2020. Actual naval operations remain halted, however; the mandate now mainly consists of air support and training Libya’s controversial coast guard, Europe’s go-to partner to stem migration.
In one week, a total of 493 migrants from sub-Saharan, Arab and Asian countries were collected by Libya's controversial coast guard. They are now in four detention centers in and around Tripoli that are known for overcrowded, inhumane and insecure conditions.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said a Sudanese man died from a gunshot wound in Libya when a group of migrants resisted being sent to a detention center. They were returned to shore by Libya's coast guard after a failed attempt to get to Europe. The IOM demands "alternatives to detention."