06/02 Around 35 people intercepted and returned to Libya

07.02.2021 / 07:06 / Central Mediterranean

Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 6th February 2021
Case name: 2021_02_06-CM362
Situation: around 35 people intercepted and returned to Libya
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Central Mediterranean
Lat N 033 Deg 027'013.090'', Lon E 012 Deg 024'015.963'' - 21:42 CET
Summary of the Case:
At around 22:00h CET on 6 February 21 we were contacted by some relatives of a group of travellers who had embarked in Zawiya at
04:00 that hoping to get to Europe. The only contact number that we were able to get was of an ordinary mobile phone. As a result, we
were not able to contact the travellers. We were given an old position.

As the relatives told us that the engine had stalled and the weather was clearly worsening, we sent the authorities and the so-called Libyan coastguard an email with what information we had. We asked the relatives to try to find a number of the satellite phone of the boat.

We tried to follow up our email with a phone call to the so-called Libyan Coastguard. Amazingly, we were able to reach somebody who promised to send a vessel.

We were not able to get any more information out of so-called Libyan coastguard or reach them on the phone a second time. At 01:44h we
rang the Italian coastguard who confirmed that they had received the information, but would not give us an update.

At around 14:20 the following day, Moonbird,, Sea-Watch’s spotter plane, informed us that they had witnessed PB658 Fezzan, a vessel of
the so-called in coastguard, carrying out an interception under the guidance of Frontex’s aerial asset, Eagle1. Moonbird further
observed the so-called coastguard burning the boat. The boat appeared to match the one that we were looking for. The UNHCR in Libya later
tweeted that 32 people had been returned to Tripoli. We concluded that this boat had been intercepted.

Our conclusion was confirmed when we were able to speak to one of the passengers, now back in Libya. She explained that she had fled Libya for Europe because the situation in Libya was intolerable and her children were in need of medical and psychological intervention that they could not receive in Libya. She confirmed that the interception
observed by Moonbird had been of the boat that she was on with the following message:

This burning boat we were on board and the Frontex plane was the one that informed the Libyan Coast Guard I hope you stop this organization from violations.

We only wish that we could.

Credibility:

Border police patrols
While the exact location of patrols is of course constantly changing, this line indicates the approximate boundary routinely patrolled by border guards’ naval assets. In the open sea, it usually correspond to the outer extent of the contiguous zone, the area in which “State may exercise the control necessary to prevent infringement of its customs, fiscal, immigration or sanitary laws” (UNCLOS, art. 33). Data source: interviews with border police officials.
Coastal radars
Approximate radar beam range covered by coastal radars operating in the frame of national marine traffic monitoring systems. The actual beam depends from several different parameters (including the type of object to be detected). Data source: Finmeccanica.
Exclusive Economic Zone
Maritime area beyond and adjacent to the territorial sea in which the coastal state exercises sovereign rights for the purposes of exploring and exploiting, conserving and managing the natural resources, whether living or non-living, the seabed and its subsoil and the superjacent waters. Its breadth is 200 nautical miles from the straight baselines from which the territorial sea is measured (UNCLOS, Arts. 55, 56 and 57). Data source: Juan Luis Suárez de Vivero, Atlas of the European Seas and Oceans
Frontex operations
Frontex has, in the past few years, carried out several sea operations at the maritime borders of the EU. The blue shapes indicate the approximate extend of these operations. Data source: Migreurop Altas.
Mobile phone coverage
Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) network coverage. Data source: Collins Mobile Coverage.
Oil and gas platforms
Oil and gas platforms in the Mediterranean. Data source:
Search and Rescue Zone
An area of defined dimensions within which a given state is has the responsibility to co-ordinate Search and Rescue operations, i.e. the search for, and provision of aid to, persons, ships or other craft which are, or are feared to be, in distress or imminent danger. Data source: IMO availability of search and rescue (SAR) services - SAR.8/Circ.3, 17 June 2011.
Territorial Waters
A belt of sea (usually extending up to 12 nautical miles) upon which the sovereignty of a coastal State extends (UNCLOS, Art. 2). Data source: Juan Luis Suárez de Vivero, Atlas of the European Seas and Oceans