The recent discovery of dozens of bodies, believed to be people migrating, in mass graves in Jakharrah and the Alkufra desert in Libya is shocking and horrific.
Our thoughts are with the families of the victims, and with all those who have loved ones missing in similar circumstances, whose situation is often worsened by a lack of access to procedures for reporting, identifying and accessing information about missing people.
In Libya the torture and killing of migrants in detention, their abandonment at sea or in the desert; being held in conditions akin to slavery; being subject to starvation and other serious human rights violations have been documented extensively by the UN’s Independent Fact Finding Mission on Libya and other bodies.
It is clear that European Union migration funding to Libya, as well as migration funding to Libya from EU member states including Italy and France, has not delivered on its promise to improve conditions for people seeking safety.
A decade on from the Mediterranean’s deadliest shipwreck off the Libyan coast, refugees in Libya remain subject to conditions that no human being should endure.
Often, these conditions are imposed by forces which received European public funds and support.
The European Commission reportedly took steps recently to review its funding arrangements with Tunisia after revelations of abuses carried out by security forces there.
In the wake of these new discoveries, and following last year’s European court of auditors finding that the EU’s Libya funding fails to address human rights risks, the EU should follow suit in Libya.
Funding should instead be used to save lives and to provide alternatives to dangerous journeys by ensuring safe routes for people to escape Libya.
Signatories:
Refugees in Libya
ASGI - Association for Juridical Studies on Immigration
Borderline-europe - Human Rights without borders e.V:
Border Violence Monitoring Network
CCFD-Terre Solidaire
Community Rights in Greece
CompassCollective
Egyptian Human Rights Forum (EHRF)
EgyptWide for Human Rights
European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR)
European Network Against Racism (ENAR)
EuroMed Rights
Greek Council for Refugees (GCR)
Human Rights Watch (HRW)
Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) Europe
KISA - Action for Equality, Support, Antiracism
La Cimade
MALDUSA Project
Mediterranea Saving Humans
Migreurop
MISSION LIFELINE International e.V.
MV Louise Michel
Refugees Platform Egypt (RPE)
Sea-Eye e. V.
Sea Punks e.V.
Sea-Watch
SOS Humanity e.V.
Statewatch
Transnational InstituteThe Tunisian Forum for Social and Economic Rights FTDES
Watch the Med - AlarmPhone
Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR)
ENDS
Supporting quotes
David Yambio from Refugees in Libya said:
"The grim discovery of new mass graves in Libya is yet more evidence that after over a decade of EU support for Libyan security forces, lethal and inhuman conditions for people seeking safety still prevail."
"The European Union recently took a long-overdue first step in reviewing some of its Tunisian funding arrangements. It should follow suit in Libya, suspend cooperation with Libyan security forces, and open up safe routes for people trapped in Libya."
Ilaria Salis MEP said:
"Italy’s recent release of internationally-wanted Libyan war criminal Osama Najim Almasri appears to be a further demonstration of the cosy relationships Italy, and European states more widely, have with human rights abusers in Libya.”
“The emergence of further tragic and preventable deaths is another wake-up call.
Europe must prioritize the establishment of safe and regulated migration routes, transforming mobility into a source of strength rather than preventing people from moving at any cost, even at the expense of their lives.”
Tineke Strik MEP said:
"The discovery of these mass graves is yet another horrible confirmation of the crimes against humanity that migrants face in Libya, perpetrated by State security forces and armed militia groups.”
“These actors do not care about any form of human rights, and cannot be a serious partner of the EU or its Member States if we claim to have any values. Let this be a wakeup call for the Commission to conduct a full review of its actions in Libya and cease any funding or cooperation programmes that directly or indirectly benefit these actors."
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