On Thursday, 21 November, at a hearing in the Committee on Civil Liberties (LIBE) of the European Parliament, Deputy Secretary-General of the European External Action Service (EEAS) Pedro Serrano explained that the EU was monitoring the work of the Libyan coastguard—which it trains and finances, but whose actions are highly criticised—“as much as possible”.
“If we want to combat human traffickers, we must work with the Libyans. The best thing for the maritime operation is to engage with the coastguard and verify that they are working in accordance with international standards”, he clarified, pointing out that a monitoring mechanism is in place and that the coastguard regularly reports to the Europeans. “When we become aware of incidents, we ask for a certain number of explanations, reports”, added Mr Serrano.
However, according to a document from the Finnish Presidency of the Council of the EU that was obtained by The Guardian, EU representatives are not allowed to monitor the Libyan coastguard’s composition or activities. The senior EEAS official himself acknowledged that the security situation was difficult. The EU delegation in Libya has currently been relocated to Tunis (Tunisia) for security reasons, which reduces its capacity to operate on the ground.
The deputy secretary-general refused to qualify the cooperation with the coastguard as positive or negative. He also affirmed that the EU does not cooperate with militias, but only with the coastguard, which is under the authority of the government recognised by the United Nations.
For his part, the European Commission’s DG NEAR Deputy Director-General Maciej Popowski reiterated that the EU—through the naval operation EUNAVFOR MED Sophia—and the Italian Ministry of the Interior trained the Libyan coastguard and coastal police but did not provide them with military equipment. According to Mr Serrano, 206 coastguards have been trained since last April through Operation Sophia.
Not all MEPs like this cooperation, particularly on account of migrants who are picked up by the Libyan coast guard being returned to Libya. Malin Björk (Greens/EFA, Sweden) described this cooperation as “absolutely deplorable and pitiful”.
Mr Serrano defended European action, explaining that no ship that had participated in Operation Sophia had sent the migrants who were picked up back to Libya. While the operation’s naval assets are currently suspended (see EUROPE 12336/32), the senior EEAS official specified that Sophia transmits the information collected on migrant ships to the responsible maritime coordination centres and not to the Libyan authorities. “That is one of our duties; we act in accordance with international laws”, he reiterated. These centres can then contact the Libyan coastguard if they are near the ship in difficulty.
Since the beginning of the year, nearly 14,000 migrants have reached the Italian and Maltese coasts, and 7,600 have been picked up by the Libyan coastguard and taken back to Libya. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)