David Yambio (Refugees in Libya) and Alexander Schwarz (ECCHR)
For many years, ECCHR has been concerned with the situation of migrants and refugees in Libya, where they are essentially exploited and treated as “commodities”. This includes various crimes against humanity: imprisonment, enslavement, murder, torture, rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, persecution, and other inhumane acts. Sometimes migrants and refugees, including children, are also forced to participate directly or indirectly in the ongoing armed conflict. All of this has been well documented by survivors and NGOs like “Refugees in Libya”. Nevertheless EU actors continue to cooperate with the Libyan authorities, providing them with funding, patrol boats, equipment, and training. Member States and EU agencies, such as FRONTEX, also collaborate with the Libyan coastguard to locate and intercept boats in distress at sea and return them to Libya.
In 2022 ECCHR submitted a communication to the ICC under Article 15 of the Rome Statute, actively urging the OTP to initiate an investigation into the international crimes committed against migrants and refugees in Libya. It explicitly mentions high level European politicians such as the former Italian Interior Ministers, Marco Minniti and Matteo Salvini, the current and former Prime Ministers of Malta Robert Abela and Joseph Muscat, the former High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, the former Executive Director of Frontex, Fabrice Leggeri as well as Italian and Maltese Rescue Coordination Centers members and EUNAV FOR MED and the European External Action Service (EEAS) officials as alleged co-perpetrates. Additionally to the ICC communication the project-team is engaging with national prosecutors in Europe to open investigations and initiate legal action against individuals suspected of committing these crimes.
Those whose policies finance and facilitate the crimes and atrocities against migrants and refugees in Libya need to be held accountable. Especially since European states are increasingly relying on border externalization policies and practices, a concept that is also reflected in the current drafts for the Common European Asylum System (CEAS).