Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 25th February 2020
Case name: 2020_02_25-CM235
Situation: While very close to the Maltese SAR zone, 85 travellers were intercepted and brought back to the Libyan hell.
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Central Mediterranean Sea

Summary of the Case: In the evening of Tuesday the 25th of February the Alarm Phone was called by 85 travellers in distress, including 20 women and 10 children. The travellers were on board of a blue wooden boat and had left Libya the previous evening, they were scared as there were really high waves and they didn’t have much fuel left. At 21:16h we alerted the Maltese, Italian and so-called Libyan coastguards via email, providing them with all the information we had, including GPS position. Soon after, we called both Italian and Maltese coastguards who confirmed having received our email but told us that they would not intervene as the boat was still in Libyan Search and Rescue (SAR) zone, albeit the fact that it was very close to the Maltese SAR. As we lost contact with the travellers, during the night we again emailed Italian, Maltese and Libyan authorities asking for updates on whether a rescue was going to be coordinated. The following morning, at 7:49h, we spoke to the so-called Libyan coastguard who told us that several boats had been "rescued”, we were advised to call back in a few hours to receive further information. Our shift-teams therefore tried to call back at 10:30h, 14:04h, 14:37h and 19:55h but our calls were left unanswered. At 18:30h we emailed Maltese, Italian and so-called Libyan coastguard to ask for infomration. During the whole day and night we continuously tried to re-establish contact with the travellers but with no success. At 13:43h the following day, the 27th of February, we finally managed to speak to the so-called Libyan coastguard who confirmed that they had “rescued” three boats near Al-Zawiyya and Sabratha, one boat was carrying 10 travellers and two boats we carrying between 80 and 100 travellers. The position of these boats however, did not match that of the case we were alerted to. While during the rest of the day we were still not able to contact the travellers, in the evening we spoke to a relative of the travellers who told us that they had been brought back to Libya, he did not know if by the so-called Libyan coastguard or other actors, despite the fact that they were very close to the Maltese SAR zone. The relative also informed us that all the travellers had been “sold like slaves” upon their arrival back in Libya.