Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 15th of June 2018
Case name: 2018_07_15CM130
Situation: 100-160 travellers intercepted by Libyan coast guard, seemingly after orders from the Italian coast guard.
Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded
Place of Incident: Central Mediterranean Sea

Summary of the Case: On Friday the 15th of June at 11.46am CEST, the Alarm Phone shift team was informed by a contact person about a group of 100-160 travellers who had left on a rubber boat at around 6pm local time from Zuwarah, Libya. The contact person forwarded us a positiion of the travellers along with the number of their satelite phone. As the travellers' credit was low, our shift team recharged their phone online. By monitoring their credit online, we could see that they were not in contact with anyone. As the weather conditions were bad in the area, we assume that they must be in very urgent distress. At 2.05pm we called the Italian coast guard, who was already alerted to the distress of the travellers. We were in contact with the travellers several times. They had some problems sending their position, but at 3pm we received a position from them. At the same time we were informed that the condition was getting worse, and water was entering the boat. We immediately called the Italian coast guard and passed on this information. When we spoke to the travellers again, they were very distressed. We stayed in contact with the Italian coast guard, updating them about vessels the travellers said they could see, but they were unwilling to give us information about the search and rescue operation. When we spoke to the travellers at 4.42pm, they were panicking, and told us that their boat was losing air. Throughout the day we recharged the credit on the travellers' phone whenever it went down. At 6.35pm the traellers informed us that their phone was almost out of battery, and that they therefore could not call anymore. At 6.37pm The Italian coast guard confirmed that they would send two boats to intercept the travellers. At 7.48pm the Italian coast guard told us that the rescue vessels they had sent were around five km away from the travellers, and should be able to reach their position within 30 minutes. At 9.35pm the Italian coast guard informed us that the travellers had been brought back to Libya. This case demontrates a close coperation between the Italian and Libyan coast guard in intercepting travellers, and thus preventing them from reaching safety in Europe.