Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 9th of September 2020
Case name: 2020_09_09-CM294
Situation Around 75 people forcibly returned to Libya
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Central Mediterranean

Summary of the Case:
In the middle of the afternoon of 9 September we were alerted to a boat in distress. The boat had left from Libya some time ago and was dealing with rough seas. We were able to reach the boat and establish some sort of position. We alerted the authorities to the distress and tried to obtain contact with the travellers. There were around about 75 people on board, including 9 women, 5 of whom were pregnant, 7 children.

We were able to stay in contact with the boat and shortly after 17:30 we were informed that one of the pregnant women was in serious distress. It appeared that she needed an emergency caesarean section.

We had no news from the authorities or any response to our emails. Neither the Maltese coastguard nor the so-called Libyan would answer any of their phones. We had also informed the Open Arms. She responded by informing us and the authorities that she was heading to the position.
Unable to persuade the authorities to do their duty, we put out the following tweet
SOS! ~75 people, incl. dozens of women & children at risk off #Libya!

This afternoon, we were alerted by a boat in distress that escaped from Libya. The people say that one of several pregnant women is in a bad medical state.

Authorities are informed, rescue is needed now!

Just after 19:00 the travellers sent us a new position. They also told us that their phone battery was very low and that two of the pregnant women had fainted. The situation was obviously desperate.

We were able to make contact again around 20:00 and then again the after 21:00. In the latter call, the travellers told us that a drone was flying above them. That was the last time we were able to make contact with travellers. We continued trying to contact the travellers overnight, but without success. We were also unable to raise the MRCC Malta by phone. It is in clear breach of their statutory obligations.

At around 11:00 on 10 September we started to see information on social media suggesting that the boat had been intercepted by the so-called Libyan authorities and pulled back to Libya. at 13:56 we had to announce that sad news on twitter:
we lost contact to the ~75 people in distress many hours ago and were now informed that they were intercepted and brought back to #Libya. We are relieved that they are still alive, but we condemn the forcible returns to the Libyan hell!