There are reports of mass graves. There is clear evidence of crimes against humanity. Yet since 2017, more than 90,000 men, women and children have been forced back to Libya – a country run by militias, without a functioning government.
Today, the European Union carries out surveillance over the Central Mediterranean – the stretch of sea between North Africa and Italy – using drones, helicopters and planes. Information about boat sightings is conveyed to the Libyan Coast Guard, a loose collection of people that sometimes includes militia members and even sanctioned human smugglers.
For the past five years, the EU has been spending tens of millions of euros on Libya’s Coast Guard, too, encouraging it to carry out interceptions on what is known as ‘the world’s deadliest migration route’. Most refugees and migrants caught trying to reach Europe are locked up in detention centres in Libya, which Pope Francis, among others, has likened to “concentration camps”. They are not part of a legal process. They have no right to contest their incarceration.
