Libya Excludes NGO Vessels from "Rescue Zone"

The Maritime Executive

By MarEx

11 August 2017

On Thursday, the Libyan Navy announced a ban on foreign NGO migrant rescue vessels within an unspecified "search and rescue zone" off the Libyan coast.

Privately-operated rescue ships typically wait outside of Libya's 12-nm line to intercept unseaworthy migrant rafts and bring the occupants on board, and it was not immediately clear whether Libyan forces intend to interfere with foreign vessels in international waters.

Recent events would suggest that the ban may extend beyond territorial seas: rescue NGO Proactiva Open Arms recently reported that a Libyan coast guard vessel fired warning shots at a rescue ship outside of Libyan waters, ordering her to leave the area or face an attack. The threat would appear to be inconsistent with UNCLOS provisions on freedom of navigation.

"We want to send out a clear message to all those who infringe Libyan sovereignty and lack respect for the coastguard and navy," said Libyan navy General Ayoub Qassem, speaking at a news conference in Tripoli. According to AFP, he said that his remarks were aimed at "NGOs which pretend to want to rescue illegal migrants and carry out humanitarian actions."

Italy is providing direct support for Libyan efforts to interdict migrants within Libyan waters and return them to shore, and the EU is funding a training program for the Libyan coast guard. The Italian government has also created a new "code of conduct" for the NGO vessel operators, which forbids transshipment of migrants at sea and requires access for embarked police observers.

Defend Europe encounters technical problems

The right-wing anti-immigration group Defend Europe encountered technical difficulties Friday with their chartered vessel, the 1975-built, Mongolian-flagged floating armory C Star.

Migrant rescue vessel Sea Eye reported that the C Star broadcast a Pan Pan call, and the regional SAR MRCC contacted Sea Eye to ask her to divert to assist. C Star declined her offer to help; Defend Europe said in a statement that the vessel had been "not under command" with her engine stopped while minor repairs were completed, and that the crew had notified nearby traffic for safety reasons. As of Friday evening, C Star was under way again off the coast of Libya.

In a statement, Sea Eye director Michael Busch Heuer said that “to help in distress is the duty of anyone who is at sea, without distinction to their origin, colour, religion or beliefs."

C Star gained attention in June when she and her crew were detained in Turkish Cyprus on suspicion of human trafficking. Five Sri Lankan nationals departed the vessel in Famagusta, claimed asylum and asserted that they had paid for passage to Europe; 15 more foreign nationals also disembarked and flew back to their country of origin. The crew and the vessel were released shortly thereafter. Defend Europe maintains that the supernumeraries were maritime trainees, not migrants.


Source: http://maritime-executive.com/article/libya-excludes-ngo-vessels-from-rescue-zone

Another NGO signs Italy's rules for Mediterranean migrant rescues

Business Standard

11 August 2017

Rome, Aug 11 (IANS/AKI) International charity Sos Mediterranee on Friday inked the Italian government's code of conduct for migrant rescues in the Mediterranean, the Italian Interior Ministry announced on Friday.

The Italo-French-German NGO's signature brings to five the number of charities that have signed the controversial code, meaning the majority have now agreed to the new rules, which ban transfer of migrants from one vessel to another, require armed police on board NGO vessels, prohibit phonecalls and firing flares, and forbid the ships from sailing into Libyan waters unless lives are at risk.

Interior Minister Marco Minniti has said that the NGOs who have not signed the code of conduct are excluded from official rescue operations in the Mediterranean and may not bring migrants to Italian ports.

The code has been criticised by NGOs, rights groups and the United Nations who say it risks further endangering lives in the Mediterranean - the world's deadiest waterway - where over 2,400 people have perished this year alone.

"There are aspects of the code we cannot accept, especially armed police aboard our vessels," Sandra Hammay from Seawatch, a German NGO that has not signed the code, told Adnkronos on Friday.

"Signing the code in its present form doesn't help anyone," Hammay said. "We need to find a compromise," she stated.

Leading charity Doctors without Borders (MSF), another non-signatory to the code, also rejects armed police on its ships and the requirement for NGOs to disembark migrants at ports rather than transferring them to other ships - a rule which it says will have fatal consequences.

It however praised Italy's "laudable" efforts to save lives at sea in the face of "an insufficient response" from other European Union countries, urging them to be more "proactive" in the Mediterranean.

The code has caused rifts Italy's centre-left government with Minniti shunning a cabinet meeting earlier this week, prompting Italian President Sergio Mattarella to step in and defend "the value of the code of conduct" for NGOs.

Transport Minister Graziano Delrio, who is in charge of the Italian coastguard, told national daily newspaper La Repubblica on Tuesday that Italy has an obligation under international maritime law to save lives at sea.

"If an NGO vessel is located near people who need rescuing then I cannot exclude it. Even if it has not signed the code of conduct, I have to use it to save human lives," said Delrio, who is a doctor.

Source: http://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ians/another-ngo-signs-italy-s-rules-for-mediterranean-migrant-rescues-117081101918_1.html

Libya navy bars foreign ships from migrant 'search and rescue' zone

Press conference video: https://youtu.be/T95eeRd8MZk

Mail Online / Afp

10 August 2017

The Libyan navy on Thursday ordered foreign vessels to stay out of a coastal "search and rescue zone" for migrants headed for Europe, a measure it said targeted NGOs.

Six years since a revolution that toppled longtime dictator Moamer Kadhafi, Libya has become a key departure point for migrants risking their lives to cross the Mediterranean to Europe.

Tens of thousands of migrants have resorted to paying people traffickers for the journey, often on overcrowded and unseaworthy boats.

Charities have dispatched boats to rescue migrants from drowning, while Libya and Italy -- where the vast majority land -- have worked together to stem the flow.

"We want to send out a clear message to all those who infringe Libyan sovereignty and lack respect for the coastguard and navy," Libyan navy spokesman General Ayoub Qassem told a news conference in Tripoli.

General Abdelhakim Bouhaliya, commander of the Tripoli naval base where the conference was held, said: "No foreign ship has the right to enter" the area without authorisation from the Libyan authorities.

Libya has "officially declared a search and rescue zone", said Bouhaliya, without specifying the scope of the exclusion zone.

Qassem said the measure was aimed against "NGOs which pretend to want to rescue illegal migrants and carry out humanitarian actions".

He urged humanitarian organisations to "respect our will... and obtain authorisation from the Libyan state even for rescue operations".

Italy has also said it wants to keep a tighter rein on NGOs helping the multinational search and rescue operation by making them sign up to a new code of conduct.

Italian authorities last week impounded a boat operated by German aid organisation Jugend Rettet on suspicion its crew effectively collaborated with people traffickers in a way that facilitated illegal immigration.

- 'Right to asylum at risk' -

Its crew is suspected of taking on board migrants delivered directly to them by people traffickers, and of allowing the smugglers to make off with their dinghies to be used again.

The Libyan coastguard has accused NGOs of aiding people traffickers in their lucrative business.

Italy has sent naval vessels at the request of Libya's UN-backed Government of National Accord to assist Tripoli in intercepting migrants, on a mission disputed by rival authorities in eastern Libya.

More than 111,000 migrants have reached Europe by sea so far this year, the vast majority of them arriving in Italy, according to the latest figures from the International Organization for Migration.

Over 2,300 have died attempting the crossing.

On Tuesday, the United Nations's new envoy to Libya endorsed Italy's drive to stem the flow of migrants leaving the North African state for Europe, despite misgivings among human rights groups.

Rights campaigners fear Italy's focus on strengthening the Libyan coastguard to ensure boatloads of migrants are intercepted before reaching international waters could place thousands of people with a right to asylum at serious risk.

But Ghassam Salame, a former Lebanese culture minister appointed in June to head UN operations in Libya, described the cooperation between Tripoli and Rome as a "very constructive" way of dealing with an acute problem.

"It would be absolutely unrealistic to ignore the seriousness of the challenge of irregular migration," Salame said after meeting Italian Foreign Minister Angelo Alfano in Rome.

Apart from the Libyan navy providing technical assistance to the coastguard, Rome has also supplied Tripoli with new patrol boats and training.

Alfano said the cooperation was beginning to bear fruit, in a reference to a more than 50-percent fall in the number of migrants rescued at sea during July, compared to the same month in 2016.

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/afp/article-4779316/Libya-navy-bars-foreign-ships-migrant-search-rescue-zone.html

Libya navy blocks foreign ships from migrant 'rescue' zone

Enca / Afp

10 August 2017

LIBYA – The Libyan navy on Thursday ordered foreign vessels to stay out of a coastal "search and rescue zone" for migrants headed for Europe, a measure it said targeted NGOs.

Six years since a revolution that toppled longtime dictator Moamer Kadhafi, Libya has become a key departure point for migrants risking their lives to cross the Mediterranean to Europe.

Tens of thousands of migrants have resorted to paying people traffickers for the journey, often on overcrowded and unseaworthy boats.

Charities have dispatched boats to rescue migrants from drowning, while Libya and Italy, where the vast majority land, have worked together to stem the flow.

"We want to send out a clear message to all those who infringe Libyan sovereignty and lack respect for the coastguard and navy," Libyan navy spokesman General Ayoub Qassem told a news conference in Tripoli.

General Abdelhakim Bouhaliya, commander of the Tripoli naval base where the conference was held, said: "No foreign ship has the right to enter" the area without authorisation from the Libyan authorities.

Libya has "officially declared a search and rescue zone", said Bouhaliya, without specifying the scope of the exclusion zone.

Qassem said the measure was aimed against "NGOs which pretend to want to rescue illegal migrants and carry out humanitarian actions".

He urged humanitarian organisations to "respect our will... and obtain authorisation from the Libyan state even for rescue operations".

Italy has also said it wants to keep a tighter rein on NGOs helping the multinational search and rescue operation by making them sign up to a new code of conduct.

Italian authorities last week impounded a boat operated by German aid organisation Jugend Rettet on suspicion its crew effectively collaborated with people traffickers in a way that facilitated illegal immigration.

Right to asylum at risk

Its crew is suspected of taking on board migrants delivered directly to them by people traffickers, and of allowing the smugglers to make off with their dinghies to be used again.

The Libyan coastguard has accused NGOs of aiding people traffickers in their lucrative business.

Italy has sent naval vessels at the request of Libya's UN-backed Government of National Accord to assist Tripoli in intercepting migrants, on a mission disputed by rival authorities in eastern Libya.

More than 111,000 migrants have reached Europe by sea so far this year, the vast majority of them arriving in Italy, according to the latest figures from the International Organization for Migration.

Over 2,300 have died attempting the crossing.

On Tuesday, the United Nations's new envoy to Libya endorsed Italy's drive to stem the flow of migrants leaving the North African state for Europe, despite misgivings among human rights groups.

Rights campaigners fear Italy's focus on strengthening the Libyan coastguard to ensure boatloads of migrants are intercepted before reaching international waters could place thousands of people with a right to asylum at serious risk.

But Ghassam Salame, a former Lebanese culture minister appointed in June to head UN operations in Libya, described the cooperation between Tripoli and Rome as a "very constructive" way of dealing with an acute problem.

"It would be absolutely unrealistic to ignore the seriousness of the challenge of irregular migration," Salame said after meeting Italian Foreign Minister Angelo Alfano in Rome.

Apart from the Libyan navy providing technical assistance to the coastguard, Rome has also supplied Tripoli with new patrol boats and training.

Alfano said the cooperation was beginning to bear fruit, in a reference to a more than 50-percent fall in the number of migrants rescued at sea during July, compared to the same month in 2016.

Source: http://www.enca.com/africa/libya-navy-blocks-foreign-ships-from-migrant-rescue-zone

Drop-off in migrant rescues on Mediterranean by Irish Naval Service

Irish Examiner

By Sean O’Riordan

11 August 2017

A combination of factors, including the deliberate sinking of wooden fishing boats, has resulted in a significant fall-off in the number of migrants being rescued by the Naval Service.

Figures released by the Defence Forces show that in 2015 three ships deployed by the navy in the Mediterranean Sea carried out 57 rescue operations during which they brought 8,631 migrants onboard.

Last year three ships were involved in 41 operations, rescuing 6,837 migrants.

This year LÉ Eithne carried out six rescue missions during her tour of duty, picking up 1,188 migrants.

LÉ William Butler Yeats made her second rescue yesterday, saving 149 migrants 54 miles north of Tripoli.

The crew’s first rescue was on July 30 when they plucked 109 migrants from the sea.

Sources within the Defence Forces say there are a number of reasons for the decline in rescues.

The Naval Service has deliberately sunk wooden fishing vessels when it has rescued migrants from them so that people-smugglers will be unable to use them again.

So too have warships belonging to the EU-led Operation Sophia, which is taking a more robust approach to stopping the people smugglers.

This has led the people-smugglers to become increasingly reliant on inflatable dinghies, which they are importing from the Far East.

However, when the wind is blowing inshore they are unable to launch them beyond the surf.

In the meantime, the Libyan coastguard has become more effective in turning back migrant boats within their 12-mile limit.

Volunteer ships from non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are also increasingly going in close to the coastline to pick up migrants.

It has been claimed that on a couple of recent occasions, they have got in so close that migrants moved to one side of their craft in an effort to be the first to be rescued and as a result caused it to capsize.

Meanwhile, the Irish navy ships, which would have previously been reasonably close to shore, are now further out to sea, meaning the NGOs are far more likely to be first to the scene of rescues.

More than 110,000 migrants from northern Africa and the Middle East have made a perilous journey across the Mediterranean to Europe this year, according to the UN.

The Irish ships are currently working with the Italians under the purely humanitarian Operation Pontus and are under the command of an Italian admiral.

The Italians previously positioned Naval Service ships in a more frontline role, but according to well-placed sources they have now positioned LÉ William Butler Yeats further off the Libyan coast, to be held in reserve should the NGO ships get overwhelmed, or to respond should there be a security risk.

Islamic State still has a presence in Libya and therefore is a security threat.

In the meantime, the country is being torn apart by a number of other different armed groups.

The Irish Government recently agreed to switch the Naval Service’s role, which will occur while LÉ William Butler Yeats is still on her tour of duty.

The ship will then be involved in a more aggressive anti-people-smuggling role, which will include ensuring a UN weapons embargo is imposed on Libya, training Libyan coastguard units and seeking and destroying shipments of inflatable dinghies.

Source:  http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/drop-off-in-migrant-rescues-on-mediterranean-by-irish-naval-service-456843.html

Irish Navy rescues 149 people in the Mediterranean

The LÉ William Butler Yeats has now rescued 258 people since deploying in July

Newstalk

10 August 2017

The Irish Navy has rescued 149 people from a rubber boat in the Mediterranean.

The migrants were picked up by the LÉ William Butler Yeats naval vessel around 47 nautical miles North East of Tripoli in Libya.

The two-and-a-half hour operation was completed by 11:15am this morning and the rescued people are now receiving food, water and medical treatment.

The LÉ William Butler Yeats has now rescued 258 people since deploying to the Mediterranean on 14th July.

The vessel’s role is currently to provide search and rescue capability and undertake humanitarian missions at sea.

That mission could be set to change in the coming months however, after the government approved a proposal to transfer troops to participate in the EU Common Security and Defence Policy mission - ‘Operation Sophia.’

The mission will see Irish troops moving away from their humanitarian role and joining a military operation targeting gangs and vessels involved in trafficking refugees out of Libya.

Source: http://www.newstalk.com/Irish-Navy-rescues-149-people-in-the-Mediterranean

Those helping migrants must respect law-CEI chief

Bassetti warns against being seen to help traffickers

ANSAmed

10 August 2017

PERUGIA - Cardinal Gualtiero Bassetti, the president of Italian bishops conference CEI, said Thursday that those helping migrants must stick strictly to the law to ensure they are not seen as being accomplices of human traffickers. "I reiterate the clearest rejection of any form of modern slavery in the face of the aberrant plague of human trafficking," Bassetti said. "But I also lay claim with equal vigor to the need for an ethic of responsibility and respect of the law. "Precisely to defend the interests of the weakest, we cannot run the risk - not even for pure idealism that dramatically transforms into naiveness - of giving the pretext of collaborating with the traffickers of human meat, even if this is false".

Some politicians have criticised the work of NGOs involved in migrant rescues in the Mediterranean, saying they are encouraging traffickers.

Sicilian prosecutors recently seized a ship run by a German NGO in a probe over alleged aiding of illegal immigration.

The NGO in question refused to sign a code of conduct at the interior ministry for organizations involved in rescues.

Source: http://www.ansamed.info/ansamed/en/news/sections/politics/2017/08/10/those-helping-migrants-must-respect-law-cei-chief-2_d81f2343-62b1-4cb1-8065-0b542029f630.html