Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) calls out Italian and other European governments, condemning all actions which prevent lifesaving rescue operations in the Central Mediterranean and that return people to Libya.

The latest incident in a long series of actions to obstruct Search and Rescue operations

“The recent incident where Italian authorities ordered the seizure of Proactiva’s ship, Open Arms, following the rescue and disembarkation of 216 people, is the latest in a long series of actions obstructing NGOs that are carrying out lifesaving rescue operations,” declared Annemarie Loof, MSF’s operational manager.

“We understand that Open Arms rescued people in international waters; in one of the rescues at 73 nautical miles off the Libyan coast, the Libyan Coastguard threatened the rescue team with violence,” continued Loof. “There’s a disturbing level of cooperation between European governments and the Libyan Coastguard, ranging from training and material support to paving the way for the Libyan Coastguard in international waters, aimed at returning people to Libya.”

Criminalisation campaign against NGOs results in reduced search and rescue capacity

While the facts around the rescue and the seizure of the ship are yet to be fully established, these actions bear the hallmark of a campaign of criminalisation against NGOs that carry out Search and Rescue operations.

“We are seeing an alarming trend by Italian and other European governments who actively seek to criminalise and block NGOs, including MSF, from conducting Search and Rescue activities in the Central Mediterranean,” said Loof.

“Since the summer of 2017, Italian authorities, backed by the European Union, have increasingly obstructed NGO operations to save people’s lives at sea; from an ill-conceived code of conduct for NGOs to politically-exploited criminal investigations that feed the suspicious towards NGOs and directly affect their ability to continue their work,” added Loof. “With the recent impounding of Open Arms in Sicily, the Aquarius, jointly operated by SOS Méditerranée and MSF, is now the only Search and Rescue NGO vessel at sea today.”

European policies of deterrence and containment endanger people’s lives

Even as NGOs are obstructed from saving lives at sea or people have no safe route and legal alternative to flee from horrific levels of violence, abuse and exploitation, European governments are enforcing policies of deterrence and containment in Libya.

“Under no circumstance should refugees and migrants be returned to Libya or trapped there,” said Loof. “Clearly European governments are not prioritising the safety of these people; rather they are playing a dirty game of politics while people’s lives hang in the balance.”