According to news outlet Swissinfo, the Italian Coast Guard has denied reports that it requested a commercial ship that had saved 30 migrants to return them to Libya.
This comes after a non-governmental organisation, Sea Watch International, accused the Italian government of issuing such an order on Saturday. The NGO regarded this to be “a violation of the non-refoulement principle.”
“The captain of the ship, GRIMSTAD has not been given directions, or rather commands, to go towards the Libyan coast after carrying out the migrant rescue,” the Italian Coast Guard said.
It noted that the boat had requested assistance 50 miles off the Libyan coast, within the SAR (Search and Rescue) area of the country, and that relief efforts were handled by Libya.
In light of this, the Italian Coast Guard said that the migrants were turned over to Libyan authorities in the waters around the port city of Zueitina by GRIMSTAD, which flew the Bahamas flag.
After aiding in the intercept at sea with their Seabird surveillance aircraft, which they use to patrol in the central Mediterranean, Sea Watch levelled their charge against Rome.
In a recorded audio that Sea Watch made available to the public, the NGO informed the GRIMSTAD’s commander that, after saving the migrants, the ship’s responsibility “includes taking them to a safe port” in accordance with international law.
Although some of the recording is incomprehensible, the command of the GRIMSTAD replied that they had received instructions from the Operational Centre of the Italian Coast Guard.
On Sunday, the Mixed Migration Center (MMC) said that the number of migrants residing in Libya has increased by 2% in December 2022. This is estimated at 694,398 migrants, from more than 42 nationalities.
The Brussels-based center, cited a report issued this week by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), on the latest numbers of migrants in Libya. It noted that 54% of migrants reside in western Libya, 34% in the east of the country, while 12% are in the south.
The report indicated that most of the migrants in eastern Libya are from Egypt and Sudan, while those coming from Niger and Chad made up the majority of migrants in the south and the west.
