EU 'has no info on' Libyan coast guard shooting at migrants

But calls for respect of human rights

ANSAmed

24 May 2017

(ANSAmed) - BRUSSELS, MAY 24 - Foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said Wednesday that the EU had no direct information on reports that the Libyan Coast Guard had shot at boats carrying migrants earlier in the day.

The claim had been made by the German NGO Jugend Rettet, which works in migrant rescue operations in the central Mediterranean. A post from yesterday on the Facebook page of Jugend Rettet said rescue crews from three ships "whilst rescuing people from at least 11 boats with approximately 1000 persons onboard, witnessed multiple (gun) shots".

However, as always, Mogherini said, the EU calls upon the Libyan Coast Guard to respect human rights. The work that the EU is involved in alongside the Libyan Coast Guard through the EU Naval Force Mediterranean (EUNAVFOR Med), also known as Operation Sophia in collaboration with the UN and NGOs, she said, ''includes a strong human rights component and especially as concerns women, respect for whom is important not only at sea but also on the ground'', in the lengthy sections that they travel to get to the Libyan coast. (ANSAmed)

Source: http://www.ansamed.info/ansamed/en/news/sections/politics/2017/05/24/eu-has-no-info-on-libyan-coast-guard-shooting-at-migrants_f639f9ad-631e-4dd2-bd50-1acaf67f7cd3.html