According to the British newspaper, The Guardian, Libya’s Government of National Accord in Tripoli has declared its own seaports unsafe and has said it will not authorise the landing of migrants stopped at sea and sent back to Libyan territory by its coastguard vessels.
The Libyan coastguard rescued about 280 migrants on Thursday, but when it attempted to return them to Libya, the country’s authorities refused to let them disembark, according to the UN migration agency IOM.
Authorities in Tripoli said that “due to the intensity in shelling, some of which previously targeted the capital’s main port, Libya is not considered a safe port”, the UN said.
Since a deal was signed with the Italian government in 2017, the Libyan coastguard has stopped migrant boats heading to Europe at sea and sent their passengers back to Libya, where aid agencies say they face torture and abuse, The Guardian said.
The Guardian reported that Libya’s refusal to take people back comes at a time when European governments have been taking harsher measures to stop migrants since the start of the coronavirus crisis, leaving no option to asylum seekers escaping from torture and wars, who despite the fear of Covid-19 continue to risk their lives at sea in order to reach Europe.
In an unprecedented move on Tuesday, the Italian government also declared its seaports “unsafe” because of the coronavirus pandemic and said it would not authorise the landing of migrant rescue boats until the end of the emergency
“European governments’ actions to close their ports to people rescued at sea put lives at risk and cannot be justified on public health grounds,” said Judith Sunderland, associate Europe and central Asia director at Human Rights Watch.
“Recent and unfolding events in the Mediterranean Sea raise serious concerns that European Union countries will use the Covid-19 pandemic as an excuse to evade their responsibilities under international law to respond to boats in distress at sea.” She said.
