Caught on film: Libyan militias take migrants out to sea and throw them in

Photo: Mediterranea Saving Humans

An Italian journalist’s photographs and video captured Libyan militias dumping migrants into the Mediterranean. The images expose the deadly costs of Europe’s partnership with Libya. Human rights groups now warn that EU funding is enabling trafficking, violence, and forced labor.

Evidence of migrants jettisoned at sea

In August, La Repubblica photojournalist Alessia Candito joined the NGO Mediterranea Saving Humans on a mission. Her photographs and video show Libyan men in military uniforms forcing migrants into the water. Survivors later confirmed they had been taken from detention centers and dumped overboard. Some reported that others who resisted were executed.

InfoMigrants reports,

In a statement, Mediterranea Saving Humans said that the “video and photographic evidence … cannot be covered up: the Libyan traffickers who violently threw ten young refugees into the open sea, right in front of our rescue vessel, after keeping them in detention camps, are part of Tripoli’s official military apparatus.”

Mediterranea said its crew was threatened by Libyan forces before the dumping. The men were identified as members of the 80th Special Operations Battalion of the 111th Brigade. Libya’s deputy defense minister Abdul Salam Al-Zoubi is said to command the unit. Days later, he was welcomed in Rome with full honors by Italy’s interior minister.

EU funding under fire

The revelations prompted a coalition of groups to demand that the European Commission suspend cooperation with Libya. Signatories included Amnesty International, ActionAid, Médecins Sans Frontières, Mediterranea, and Refugees in Libya. Politico reported the NGOs warned, “Eight years of EU support has not improved these actors’ human rights records, but enabled and legitimised abuses.”

Their letter accused Brussels of ignoring “overwhelming evidence” of violations. The groups urged the Commission to halt funding. They also called on Italy to end its 2017 migration pact with Libya and pressed other EU states to avoid similar deals.

Meanwhile, the dumping revelations were not isolated. Weeks before, advocates were incensed by reports of a Libyan patrol boat firing hundreds of shots at the SOS Méditerranée rescue ship Ocean Viking. More than 30 crew members and 87 rescued migrants were on board.

However, the European Commission dismissed the calls for change. Instead, a spokesperson doubled down, saying, “This is what we have been doing and we keep on doing at different level, and this is our policy for now.” Funding to Libyan forces continues under EU migration programs worth hundreds of millions of euros.

Despite UN findings that Libya is not a “place of safety” for disembarkation, Brussels persists with support. Furthermore, this leaves NGOs — not states — to bear the burden of rescuing people from abuses including detention, torture, ransom, and forced labor.

Europe cannot look away. The evidence of migrants violently dumped into the sea by Libyan officials must end any illusions about this partnership. It is time to suspend EU cooperation with Libya and demand accountability for abuses that amount to trafficking and attempted murder.