The NGO says it is the first case of its kind to target so-called privatised push-backs. The complaint maintains that Italy and other states have turned private merchant vessels into instruments of so-called refoulement -- returning asylum seekers to places where they risk persecution and torture -- which is illegal under international law. "Our legal complaint is targeting Italy's attempt to abdicate its responsibilities by privatising the push-back of migrants to a nightmare environment in Libya," O Cuinn said. - Wracked by conflict -Italy renewed a widely criticised 2017 agreement in October with the Libyan coastguard to block migrants trying to leave for Europe. Some 40,000 refugees and asylum seekers also live outside detention centres in urban areas in Libya, according to the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR).

Source: Libya Today December 18, 2019 11:15 UTC