Monday

2nd Oct 2023

Exclusive

Libya keeps coast guards rejected by the EU

Libyans who were refused EU coast guard training are returning to work at the Libyan coast guard, for up to $150 per month, amid reports some are guilty of people-trafficking and belong to militias.

The European Union has so far trained 237 Libyan coast guard officers as part of efforts to stop people from reaching Italy by boat.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

Qassim Ayoub, spokesperson for Libya's coast guard, told EUobserver on Tuesday (19 September) that the EU has turned down some Schengen-visa requests and rejected other applicants for unknown reasons.

"People who are refused EU training return to work. We have received no proof, or documents, that they did something wrong," he said.

He noted that the highest monthly wage of a Libyan coast guard officer is $150.

He was unable to say how many had been denied EU training. The European Commission would not share the figure either "since this regards an ongoing military operation," it said.

The EU says it vets all candidates, turning away those who pose a security or other problems. It also says it is stepping up monitoring for human rights.

But militia and people smugglers are said to have infiltrated the Libyan coast guard, posing questions on whether those rejected by the EU vetting also ply the illegal trade.

The EU, last summer, earmarked €46m to help, among other things, equip the Libyan coast guard.

Trainees are first selected by Libyan authorities before going through a vetting process carried out in different phases. They are crossed-checked by the EU's naval operation, Sophia, by EU member states, and by international law enforcement agencies, such as Europol and Interpol.

The case of 'Bija'

The risk of inviting the wrong kind of person was recently highlighted when a Libyan coast guard commander in Zawiyah was put on an international sanctions list for smuggling and people-trafficking.

Abd al-Rahman Milad, more commonly known as 'Bija', would send his coast guard boats to sea, pick up migrants, and turn them over to the Nasr detention centre in Zawiyah.

The centre was run by a militia, with which Bija also allegedly collaborated to smuggle stolen fuel.

His links to the EU are not tangential.

In May 2017, he travelled to Rome to participate in an EU-funded workshop hosted by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM). He stayed at the four-star Hotel Clodio, where he also met Italian officials, reported the Pulitzer Centre on Crisis Reporting.

Bija was not trained by the EU, and, according to Ayoub, he no longer works at the Libyan coast guard.

It is unclear if he had been vetted out or put forward as a candidate for the EU training programme.

Pressed why the EU does not share information with the Libyan coast guard on those who have been refused training, an EU commission official said it was Libya's responsibility as a sovereign state to vet its own people. Another EU source said some information was shared.

"They are not serious about this operation. I don't think their objective is to stop migration but rather to encourage it," Ayoub, the Libyan coast guard spokesman, said when asked if the EU's stated objective of destroying the smugglers' business model was producing results.

The Libyan coast guard has rescued over 13,000 people this year, a 194-percent increase compared to 2017.

Most are sent to detention centres, which are often run by militias.

Operation Sophia has also been seizing Chinese-made boats and outboard engines, which are being either sold online or shipped through Turkey or Malta's Freeport, partly owned by China Merchants Holdings.

Around 520 boats were intercepted as of the end of last year, pushing up the demand, with ads appearing throughout 2017 on Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba for "high-quality refugee boats", some of which ended up with people smugglers in the Mediterranean.

Life jackets were advertised as optional.

EU dismisses UN call to stop migrant returns to Libya

As the death toll of the Tajoura detention centre airstrike reached 53, including six children, the UN called for a halt to returning people to Libya. The EU - which is helping fund the Libyan coastguard - said no.

EUobserved

EU Commission spins half-truth on 'unsafe' refugee boats

The European Commission claims sea crossings from Libya are more dangerous because smugglers are using less seaworthy boats. But it fails to explain why that is - an omission of their own policies of boat capture and seizure.

Libyan militia cash in on EU's anti-smuggling strategy

More people in Libya are being inducted into slavery as people-traffickers try to monetise their investment by selling them. A senior UN refugee agency official described it as an unintended side effect of the reduction of migrant boat departures.

EU rejects UN blame for migrant sea deaths

Last week, the UN high commissioner for human rights said the EU and its member states are partly responsible for making the central Mediterranean more dangerous for asylum-seeker hopefuls. The EU rejects that - despite evidence suggesting otherwise.

EU Ombudsman warns of 'new normal' of crisis decision-making

Emily O'Reilly cited the post-pandemic recovery funds, the windfall taxes on energy companies, and the joint purchase of vaccines, as procedures which received limited scrutiny from the national parliaments — as a result of emergency decision-making powers that bypassed parliament.

Latest News

  1. EU women promised new dawn under anti-violence pact
  2. Three steps EU can take to halt Azerbaijan's mafia-style bullying
  3. Punish Belarus too for aiding Putin's Ukraine war
  4. Added-value for Russia diamond ban, as G7 and EU prepare sanctions
  5. EU states to agree on asylum crisis bill, say EU officials
  6. Poland's culture of fear after three years of abortion 'ban'
  7. Time for a reset: EU regional funding needs overhauling
  8. Germany tightens police checks on Czech and Polish border

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersThe Nordic Region is stepping up its efforts to reduce food waste
  2. International Medical Devices Regulators Forum (IMDRF)Join regulators, industry & healthcare experts at the 24th IMDRF session, September 25-26, Berlin. Register by 20 Sept to join in person or online.
  3. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  4. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA
  5. International Medical Devices Regulators Forum (IMDRF)Join regulators & industry experts at the 24th IMDRF session- Berlin September 25-26. Register early for discounted hotel rates
  6. Nordic Council of MinistersGlobal interest in the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations – here are the speakers for the launch

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of Ministers20 June: Launch of the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations
  2. International Sustainable Finance CentreJoin CEE Sustainable Finance Summit, 15 – 19 May 2023, high-level event for finance & business
  3. ICLEISeven actionable measures to make food procurement in Europe more sustainable
  4. World BankWorld Bank Report Highlights Role of Human Development for a Successful Green Transition in Europe
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersNordic summit to step up the fight against food loss and waste
  6. Nordic Council of MinistersThink-tank: Strengthen co-operation around tech giants’ influence in the Nordics

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us