Latest news with #LibyanCoastGuard
Daily Maverick
20 hours ago
- Daily Maverick
Listen: A team of journalists at gunpoint (Libya, Part 3)
We follow the harrowing story of Aliou Candé — a 28-year-old farmer and father from Guinea-Bissau — whose dream of a better life ended in one of Libya's brutal migrant prisons. The Libyan Coast Guard is doing the European Union's dirty work, capturing migrants as they attempt to cross the Mediterranean into Europe and throwing them in secret prisons. There, they are extorted, abused and sometimes killed. An investigation into the death of Aliou Candé, a young farmer and father from Gineau-Bisseau, puts the Outlaw Ocean team in the crosshairs of Libya's violent and repressive regime. In this stunning three-part series, we take you inside the walls of one of the most dangerous prisons, in a lawless regime where the world's forgotten migrants languish. Episode highlights Host Ian Urbina is detained, beaten and brought to a secret prison jail. He believes he is going to die. And still, he knows this is only 'a sliver of what the migrants we are covering go through'. Ian learns his team is being held in the same facility. They make proof-of-life videos as their respective governments intervene to get them out. Ian reflects on Western privilege and the lottery of birth. He, unlike Candé, gets to go home. He also gets to report what he saw: a war on migration. A war with an army, a navy, and an air force. A war likely to spread as more poor, desperate migrants risk it all to reach safer shores. DM
Forbes
4 days ago
- Politics
- Forbes
Europe's Human Rights Court Sides With Italy Over Migration Shipwreck
People crossing the Mediterranean sea off the Libyan coast. (Photo by Matias CHIOFALO / AFP) (Photo ... More by MATIAS CHIOFALO/AFP via Getty Images) The European Court of Human Rights has sided with Italy in a controversial case involving a shipwreck in the Mediterranean. The case gets to the heart of a complicated - and highly controversial - relationship Italy has with what is known as the Libyan Coast Guard, in its attempts to control migration between North Africa and Europe. The case relates to the treatment of people attempting to reach Europe who were intercepted by the Libyan Coast Guard (LCG) - which is a nebulous entity comprising forces of the Libyan Navy as well as militias and criminal groups - in 2017. After getting into trouble at sea, the group of people - around 150 people seeking shelter in Europe - were intercepted by an LCG vessel and taken back to Libya. Around twenty people died during the episode. Years later, a case was brought against Italy by some of the survivors of that tragedy. The survivors argued that, in effect, Italy was responsible for what happened, as Italy - and the European Union overall - have funded and aided the LCG over the years and use it as a proxy border enforcement force. For many years the LCG has been observed acting as such a proxy, intercepting and returning people trying to escape Libya, in exchange for hundreds of millions of euros in funding, materiel and training. This relationship, the survivors of the 2017 shipwreck say, is what makes Italy accountable for what happened, even if it took place outside of Italy's area of responsibility in the Mediterranean (known as the search and rescue, or 'SAR,' zone). In its ruling, however, the European Court of Human Rights decided to dismiss the case. 'The Court found that the criteria for concluding that a State Party had exercised extraterritorial jurisdiction (…) had not been met in the circumstances of the case," read the decision. In other words, Italy wasn't responsible for the behavior of the LCG. This decision is important as it gets to the heart of a long-standing complaint from NGOs and civil society groups. Although there is no specific deal between authorities in Libya and the EU (at least none that is publicly known) that states the LCG will prevent people from reaching Europe in exchange for funding, that appears to observers to be what is happening. In effect, it is alleged, Europe is paying Libya to handle its migration 'problem' for it, and in doing so facilitating the forced return (or 'pullback') of people to a country where they face extreme abuse and danger. The EU has for a long time tended to deny this is the arrangement, rather stating that funding and equipping the LCG is a matter of managing migration 'safely' amid historic numbers of people dying in the Mediterranean. This latest court ruling adds perceived weight to the EU's assertion that the LCG is not acting on its behest, even as migration advocates and activists continue to assert the opposite, and potentially takes pressure off EU policymakers from ending the relationship.
Libya Observer
7 days ago
- Politics
- Libya Observer
European Court of Human Rights clears Italy of responsibility for Libyan Coast Guard's actions
Judges at the European Court of Human Rights ruled on Thursday that Italy cannot be held liable for the actions of the Libyan Coast Guard, rejecting a case filed by a group of immigrants who were rescued from the Mediterranean Sea after their boat sank in 2017. The court in Strasbourg declared the case inadmissible, finding that Italy did not have effective control over the waters off the coast of Tripoli, where the small boat carrying about 150 people sank, according to Euronews. 20 people died in the incident, while around 45 survivors said they were taken to the Tajoura detention center in Tripoli, where they were beaten and abused, according to the report. The judges found that the captain and crew of the Libyan vessel Ras Jadir acted independently when they responded to a distress signal in the early morning hours of November 6, 2017. Since 2017, Italy has provided Libya with funding, vessels, and training as part of an agreement aimed at reducing the number of migrants crossing the Mediterranean Sea. However, the judges ruled that this support does not prove that Italy had taken over Libya's public authority powers. Moreover, Libya is not a member of the Council of Europe, and therefore, the court has no jurisdiction over the country's actions. Tags: Italy Libyan Coast Guard illegal immigrants
Daily Maverick
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Daily Maverick
Listen: A place ‘worse than hell' (Libya, Part 2)
Part Two of the harrowing story of Aliou Candé — a 28-year-old farmer and father from Guinea-Bissau — whose dream of a better life ended in one of Libya's brutal migrant prisons. The Libyan Coast Guard is doing the European Union's dirty work, capturing migrants as they attempt to cross the Mediterranean into Europe and throwing them in secret prisons. There, they are extorted, abused and sometimes killed. An investigation into the death of Aliou Candé, a young farmer and father from Guinea-Bissau, puts the Outlaw Ocean team in the cross-hairs of Libya's violent and repressive regime. advertisement Don't want to see this? Remove ads In this three-part series, we take you inside the walls of one of the most dangerous prisons in a lawless regime where the world's forgotten migrants languish. Listen to part one here Episode 2 highlights The EU has claimed it plays no role in this migrant crisis, even as it provides boats, buses, petrol — even the tablets the Libyans use to count their captives. Once captured and counted, those migrants are often held in a network of secretive prisons run by competing militias, where exploitation, abuse and death are common. They are also routinely 'rented' as everything from farm labour to soldiers in battle. Aliou Candé was sent to a prison where he died at the hands of prison guards while trying to protect himself in a melee. 'I'm not going to fight. I'm the hope of my entire family,' he said. DM
Libya Review
12-06-2025
- Politics
- Libya Review
Italy Cleared Over Libya's Deadly 2017 Migrant Boat Sinking
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has dismissed a case against Italy over its alleged responsibility in a deadly migrant boat sinking off the Libyan coast in 2017. The court ruled that Italy was not liable for the actions of the Libyan Coast Guard, rejecting claims made by 14 survivors of the incident. The Strasbourg-based court declared the case inadmissible, stating that Italy did not have 'effective control' over the maritime area off Tripoli where the vessel carrying about 150 migrants sank. The tragedy resulted in the deaths of at least 20 people. According to survivor accounts, those rescued by the Libyan Coast Guard were returned to Libya and detained at the Tajura Detention Centre, where they reportedly faced beatings and abuse. However, the ECHR judges concluded that the Libyan crew aboard the rescue vessel Ras Jadir acted independently, without direct control or instruction from Italian authorities. While Italy has supported Libya's coast guard with vessels, training, and funding to stem the flow of migrants across the Mediterranean, the court found that such support did not amount to Italy exercising governmental authority over Libya. Some of the migrants were later rescued by the humanitarian group Sea-Watch and brought to Italy. The 14 complainants were among them. A ruling in favour of the migrants could have challenged EU-backed migration control agreements with Libya, Turkey, and other nations aimed at limiting migrant arrivals to Europe. The ECHR clarified that it has no jurisdiction over Libya, which is not a member of the Council of Europe. The court's mandate is limited to the 46 member states of the Council, an entity separate from the European Union, created after World War II to uphold democracy and human rights. Tags: ECHRImmigrationItalylibyamigrants
