BRUSSELS: The European Union’s border and coast guard agency has a duty to inform the Libyan authorities about migrant boats in trouble in the country’s waters and will keep doing so, the head of Frontex insisted Tuesday, after a charity accused Libya’s coast guard of threatening its crew during a rescue.
German charity SOS Humanity said that the Libyan coast guard used violence and fired live bullets as its crew rescued migrants in the Mediterranean Sea on Saturday.
The charity said that several migrants aboard three unseaworthy boats had to jump into the water. It said that it rescued 77 people, but that others were forced aboard a coast guard vessel. Some family members were separated and at least one migrant drowned.
Frontex uses aircraft, drones and other equipment to monitor the EU’s outside borders, including in international waters. Libya’s vast search and rescue area in the Mediterranean reaches well beyond its maritime border to almost halfway to the Italian island of Lampedusa.
The agency provides the Libyan coast guard with the location of boats that it believes are in danger.
Frontex’s executive director, Hans Leijtens, told The Associated Press that the organization is obliged by international law to report such incidents to the “appropriate authorities,” and that “if it’s in the Libyan search and rescue zone, it means also the Libyan authorities.”
“We have to inform them,” Leijtens said. Not to do so “would be playing with the lives of the migrants, because that would mean that assets that are available to save lives will not be allocated to the incident,” he said. “That’s a gamble I will never take.”
The EU has been funding the Libyan coast guard since 2015 as part of its effort to stop migrants from the North African country reaching Italy. As part of the deal, the coast guard intercepts migrants in Libyan and international waters and returns them to Libya.
Libya was plunged into chaos following a NATO-backed uprising that toppled and killed longtime autocrat Muammar Qaddafi in 2011. Over the years, several witness accounts of abuses by the coast guard and detention center staff on land have been reported.
Some EU countries have complained that charity ships looking for migrants in trouble at sea are only encouraging more people to come to Europe. Italy, for example, has sought to impound some aid vessels. But Leijtens said that it’s important for Frontex to work with nongovernmental organizations.
“I think it’s important that that we are not blocking any cooperation,” he said. “Whatever it takes to save lives is very important.”
According to the International Organization for Migration’s Missing Migrants Project, at least 962 migrants were reported dead and 1,563 others missing off Libya in 2023. Around 17,200 migrants were intercepted and returned to Libya last year.
Leijtens said that Frontex lacks a mandate, sufficient funds and equipment to carry out rescue work.
EU’s border agency has a duty to inform Libya’s coast guard about migrant boats, official says
https://arab.news/n9u8f
EU’s border agency has a duty to inform Libya’s coast guard about migrant boats, official says
- German charity SOS Humanity said that the Libyan coast guard used violence and fired live bullets as its crew rescued migrants
- The charity said that several migrants aboard three unseaworthy boats had to jump into the water
Sudan defense minister dismisses ‘intelligence document’ as fabrication after convoy strike
- Gen. Hassan Kabroun tells Arab News claims that army hid weapons in aid convoy are “completely false”
RIYADH: Sudan’s defense minister has firmly denied reports attributed to Sudanese intelligence alleging that a convoy targeted in North Kordofan was secretly transporting weapons under the cover of humanitarian aid.
Gen. Hassan Kabroun described the claims as “false” and an attempt to distract from what he called a militia crime.
The controversy erupted after news reports emerged that a document attributed to Sudan’s General Intelligence Service claimed the convoy struck in Al-Rahad on Friday was not a purely humanitarian mission, but was instead carrying “high-quality weapons and ammunition” destined for Sudanese Armed Forces units operating in the state.
The report further alleged that the convoy had been outwardly classified as humanitarian in order to secure safe passage through conflict zones, and that the Rapid Support Forces had destroyed it after gathering intelligence on its route and cargo.
Kabroun categorically rejected the narrative.
“First of all, we would like to stress the fact that this news is false,” he told Arab News. “Even the headline that talks about the security of the regions, such as Al-Dabbah, is not a headline the army would use.”
He described the document as fabricated and politically motivated, saying it was designed to “cover up the heinous crime they committed.”
The minister affirmed that the area targeted by drones is under full control of the Sudanese Armed Forces and does not require any covert military transport.
“Second, we confirm that the region that was targeted by drones is controlled by the army and very safe,” Kabroun said. “It does not require transporting any military equipment using aid convoys as decoys because it is a safe area controlled by the army, which has significant capabilities to transport humanitarian aid.”
According to the minister, the Sudanese military has both the logistical capacity and secure routes necessary to move equipment openly when needed.
“The army is professional and does not need to deliver anything to Kadugli or Dalang on board aid convoys,” he said. “The road between Dalang and Kadugli is open. The Sudanese forces used that road to enter and take control of the region. The road is open and whenever military trucks need to deliver anything, they can do so without resorting to any form of camouflage.”
Kabroun further rejected any suggestion that the military uses humanitarian operations as cover.
“Aid is transported by dedicated relief vehicles to the areas in need of this assistance,” he said. “Aid is not transported by the army. The army and security apparatus do not interfere with relief efforts at all, and do not even accompany the convoys.”
He stressed that the Sudanese Armed Forces maintains a clear institutional separation between military operations and humanitarian work, particularly amid the country’s crisis.
“These are false claims,” he said. “This fake news wanted to cover up the heinous crime they committed.”
Sudan has been gripped by conflict since April 2023, when fighting broke out between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces, plunging the country into what the United Nations has described as one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters.
The latest dispute over the convoy comes amid intensified fighting in South Kordofan, a strategically sensitive region linking central Sudan with the contested areas of Darfur and Blue Nile.
The false report suggested that intelligence monitoring had enabled the RSF to strike what it described as a military convoy disguised as humanitarian aid. But Kabroun dismissed that version outright.
“The intelligence agency is well aware of its duties,” he said. “The Sudanese Army has enough weapons and equipment to use in the areas of operations. These claims are completely false.”
He argued that the narrative being circulated seeks to shift blame for attacks on civilian infrastructure and humanitarian movements.
“This shows that they are trying to cover up the atrocities,” he added, referring to the militia.
Kabroun maintained that the army has regained momentum on multiple fronts and remains fully capable of sustaining its operations without resorting to deception.
“The region is secure, the roads are open, and the army does not need camouflage,” he said. “We are operating professionally and transparently.”
“These claims are completely false,” Kabroun said. “The Sudanese Army does not use humanitarian convoys for military purposes.”
