Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 20 November 2019
Case name: 2019_11_20-CM211
Situation: 2 Boats Rescued by the Civil Fleet, 1 boat shipwrecked; 73 People Rescued by Open Arms; 85 People Rescued by Ocean Viking; about 70 People Drowned.
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Central Mediterranean

Summary of the Case:
On 20 November 2019, two boats in distress that alerted the Alarm Phone were rescued by the civil fleet, one by Open Arms and one by Ocean Viking. One boat carrying about 95 people was intercepted by the so-called Libyan coastguards. One boat capsized and 70 deaths are feared.

On Wednesday 20 November 2019, we were contacted by a group of 73 people on a grey zodiac in distress north of Libya but still in the disputed Libyan SAR zone. We forwarded their position to the so-called Libyan Coast Guard and also informed Open Arms of the civil fleet. As the situation was deteriorating and the Libyan authorities were not responding to the distress, at 21:00h CET Open Arms, after emailing the address of the Libyan authorities, moved towards the boat in distress. Shortly afterwards the boat's engine stopped working and the boat began to drift. At around 03:00h CET the following morning, Open Arms located the boat and distrubeted life jackets. They stood by and awaited instrunctions from the 'competant' Libyan authorities. These were not forthcoming, so, forced to act on their own iniative, Open Arms took all 73 people onboard.

Also that day, we were contacted by a boat in distress in the disputed Libyan SAR zone, carrying 85 people, including one suffering the effects of a gunshot wound. The people onboard were able to give us a position. They had navigated a long way east. We alerted the so-called Libyan Coast Guard along with Ocean Viking at about 15:30h CET. Ocean Viking proceeded towards the scene. We kept in contact with the boat until about 20:30h. After that we were no longer able to get through to their phone. Ocean Viking arrived on scene around midnight and began searching for the boat. We continued trying to contact the boat. At 08:30h on 21 November, CET Pilotes Volontaires joined the search. We were able to restablish communication with the boat around midday and received an updated position. An hour or so later Ocean Viking were able to locate the migrant travellers and brought them to safety.

In the darkness before dawn, we were alerted to a boat carrying around 95 people in distress in international waters north of Garabuli. We alerted the so-called Libyan Coast Guard along with Ocean Viking from the civil fleet. We lost contact with the boat around 07:00h that morning, though our shift teams continued to attempt to reach their satellite phone. At 11:00h Pilotes Volontaires spotted the boat adrift near to the last known position. Information from fishermen in the area confirmed the presence of our boat along with two others. Ocean Viking arrived on scene but the so-called Libyan Coast Guard informed them that the boat had been intercepted back to Libya.

According to the fishermens' testimonies, a boat which had not reached out to the Alarm Phone capsized. There were about 100 people on board. The fisherman witnessed the tragedy and was able to tell us that when he and his colleagues arrived on the spot many people were already in the water. The fishermen rescued as many people as they could – about 30 people – but came too late for about 70 others who drowned. The fishermen tried to inform the Libyan authorities but they were not reachable. One of the fishermen has repeatedly spoken to the Alarm Phone but is too scared to release further evidence because of potential repression by the Libyan militias. Authorities, international organisations, and the media refuse to account for this shipwreck, although it is now confirmed that at least 6 bodies were found on the shore of Al Khoms in Libya. Once again Europe's border regime not only denies people their right to asylum, but kills.