Thread by @stluedke

Scoop: Frontex has sent around 2200 emails with coordinates of refugee boats to the Libyan Coast Guard since 01/21 – while watching from the air how they hit, kick, shoot at migrants and drag them back to Libya, as per internal documents we obtained. @derspiegel @LHreports

According to a letter by Frontex director Hans Leijtens to the European Parliament, "there were approximately 2200 emails sent by Frontex to RCC Libya, transmitting coordinates and other relevant information regarding vessels in state of emergency".

In the same period, Frontex has recorded several instances of violence by the Libyan Coast Guard. Officers hit migrants with batons and a rope, kicked them and shot at a refugee boat before returning the migrants illegally to Libya (where they often face torture and extortion).

The agency's own Fundamental Rights Officer, Jonas Grimhegen, has internally been sounding the alarm bell for months and warns of possible legal ramifications for the agency due to its coordination with the Libyan Coast Guard.

"While the Agency can't be responsible for determining the place of safety, sightings directly shared with the Libyan authorities de facto enables them to detect the migrant boats and bring them back to Libya."

"(...) the contribution provided through the coordination and sharing of information could potentially be considered as indirect involvement in refoulment practices, with possible legal consequences and high reputational risks for both the Member States and the Agency."

Grimhegen recommends a series of mitigating measures ("strong safeguards upon which the service should be conditional") –– including involving UNHCR and IOM to ensure migrants' safety upon landing in Libya and urging EU states to ramp up rescue efforts.

His most delicate recommendation: "Enhance the cooperation with NGO rescue vessels by alerting them, together with relevant Rescue Coordination Centres, for
incidents sighted by the Agency’s aerial assets inside the Libyan Search Rescue Region."

When contacted, Frontex did not say whether the agency implemented this or other recommendations Grimhegen has issued.

Frontex acknowledged "the complexities of the situation in the Mediterranean, particularly regarding the well-documented challenges in Libya".

"The decision to share information about vessels in distress with the Libyan rescue coordination centre, alongside other national centres, is taken with a heavy heart, underpinned by the principle that every possible avenue must be explored to save lives."

"Under international law, there is no leeway to exclude any SAR region's coordination centre from communications about maritime emergencies within their area."

See the full story in German for more details. W/@bash_deeb
spiegel.de/ausland/wie-fr…

That Leijtens shared the full extent of Frontex' coordination with the Libyan Coast Guard is an impact of our previous joint investigations into the issue.

Read them here:


And here:
spiegel.de/international/…
spiegel.de/international/…