Italy Should No Longer Work With The Libyan Coastguard When Rescuing People At Sea.

According to the International Organization for Migration, three migrants have been shot and killed when they landed at Khums, after the Libyan coastguard intercepted them at sea and reported back to the mainland. The local authorities opened fire after the migrants tried to run away.

Killing people whose only crime was to flee a country torn apart by years of fighting and violence is intolerable. And having voted by a majority to go on funding the Libyan coastguard, Italy is complicit in it.

EMERGENCY is asking Italy to stop all collaboration with the Libyan coastguard as soon as possible and get back to rescuing people in the Mediterranean Sea who need help.

All collaboration from now on should be seen as unacceptable. There are countless stories of and inquiries into mistreatment and abuse of migrants in Libya. It is also unacceptable that migrants are taken to detention centres in a war-torn country, which violate all basic human rights.

Saving people at sea should be the responsibility of European countries. Every government should have a search and rescue service that is constant and reliable.