Earlier this year, in June, somewhere in the vast expanse of the central Mediterranean, a Médecins Sans Frontières team on board a rescue vessel received a distress call. The motor of a small boat carrying asylum seekers from Libya had broken down, and the vessel was taking in water. If the Libyan coastguard makes it to the boat before the rescue crew, the refugees will be pushed back to Libyan detention centres at gunpoint. Refugees rescued off the coast of Libya sleep aboard the Geo Barents, a rescue vessel operated by MSF. In 2019, Italy introduced a security decree imposing fines of up to €50,000 (£42,700) for boats bringing asylum seekers to Italy without permission.

Source: Libya Today December 02, 2021 15:04 UTC