EU-Libya Migration Cooperation Results In 'Extreme Abuse' Of Refugees In Libya - Watchdog

The EU support for the Libyan Coast Guard in intercepting EU-bound boats and detaining migrants and asylum seekers contributes to "a cycle of extreme abuse" against refugees in the African country, a prominent human rights watchdog said in a report on Monday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 21st January, 2019) The EU support for the Libyan Coast Guard in intercepting EU-bound boats and detaining migrants and asylum seekers contributes to "a cycle of extreme abuse" against refugees in the African country, a prominent human rights watchdog said in a report on Monday.

The report by Human Rights Watch reveals that migrants and asylum seekers, detained in Libya with EU help, "are trapped in a nightmare," due to severe overcrowding, unsanitary conditions, malnutrition, and lack of adequate health care.

"Yet since 2016, the EU and particular member states have poured millions of Euros into programs to beef up the Libyan Coast Guard's capacity to intercept boats leaving Libya, fully aware that everyone is then automatically detained in indefinite, arbitrary detention without judicial review," the report said.

The watchdog believes that in an effort to prevent refugees from crossing into Europe and by enabling the Libyan Coast Guard to intercept people in international waters, the EU authorities are contributing to "serious human rights violations.

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"Italy - the EU country where the majority of migrants departing Libya have arrived - has taken the lead in providing material and technical assistance to the Libyan Coast Guard forces and abdicated virtually all responsibility for coordinating rescue operations at sea, to limit the number of people arriving on its shores," the report said.

The European Union has been experiencing a large-scale migration crisis since 2015 due to the influx of thousands of migrants fleeing crises in the middle East and North Africa. Earlier in January, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) stated that 4,216 migrants and refugees had entered Europe by sea through the first 16 days of 2019, a nearly twofold increase in comparison to the same period of last year.