A complaint has been filed to the UN Human Rights Committee over the role of Italy, Malta, and Libya in violating migrants’ rights to leave Libya, alleging a denial of the rights of asylum seekers. They had fled from Libya and were in the Maltese Search and Rescue (SAR) zone, very close to Lampedusa. After many hours at sea, the Libyan patrol boat Fezzan – supplied by Italy in the framework of Italian/Libyan cooperation – intercepted the migrants on the leaking boat. “Italy and Malta failed to take urgent measures to ensure the necessary assistance and disembark the survivors in a ‘place of safety” – which Libya undoubtedly is not,” the complainants said. The complaint argues that Italy, Malta, and Libya are breaching their obligations under international law, as they were subjected to arbitrary and unlimited detention as well as repeated interceptions and pull-backs conducted by Libyan authorities.

Source: Libya Today July 24, 2020 15:11 UTC