So-called Libyan Coast Guard prevents escape from civil war country Libya

On Wednesday afternoon, March 30, 2022, a distress call was forwarded to SEA-EYE 4, which the Alarm Phone reported to the responsible authorities. The rescue ship was already on its way to Malta because the mission was scheduled to end on Wednesday. But the SEA-EYE 4 was the only rescue ship east of Tripoli and therefore turned back. After several hours of sailing, the SEA-EYE 4 found the gray rubber boat with 74 people, including 22 children aboard. 15 people had to be treated in the ship’s sick bay. The refugees come from Egypt, Nigeria, Sudan, South Sudan and Syria. Together with the rescued people who were taken over by SEA-EYE 4 from a container ship on Tuesday, there are now a total of 106 rescued persons aboard the ship.

Another emergency call reported by Alarm Phone led to an all-night search for 90 people in distress on Wednesday. The search was unsuccessful and had to be interrupted on Thursday morning because the coordinates of another boat with 145 people in distress were reported to the ship. Before the SEA-EYE 4 could reach the boat in distress, Alarm Phone had already reported an illegal push-back by the so-called Libyan Coast Guard.

“With the renewal of the IRINI mandate, the federal government declared that the Libyan coast guard could no longer be supported and trained, but here in the Libyan rescue zone we will continue to be eyewitnesses to returns that violate international law,” says Gorden Isler, Chairman of Sea-Eye e. V.

There is no information about the whereabouts of 90 people, even if the probability of a push-back is very high in this case as well.

“A shipwreck that nobody will ever talk about again, because it’s obviously become normality for us in Europe that black people fleeing to suffer such a fate is unfortunately also a possibility,” Isler continues.

The SEA-EYE 4 must now find a safe place to disembark 106 people from six different countries of origin.

“If the people hadn’t been rescued, it would have been very unlikely that they would have survived, because the weather has changed suddenly in the last few days,” says Isler.

On Tuesday, 32 people were rescued from a small fishing boat by the container ship KARINA in 4 m waves. Hagen Kopp from Alarm Phone called Tuesday’s escape attempt “completely desperate” because the people on this route had “little chance of survival” without rescue by a container ship.The SEA-EYE 4 will enter Maltese waters on Friday, one day before the Pope’s visit. A meeting with migrants in a Catholic reception center is also planned.

“Perhaps an unequivocal appeal by the Pope to the Maltese government can make Malta, as the closest EU state, feel responsible for 106 people seeking protection,” says Isler.

On board the SEA-EYE 4, Monique told her harrowing story to our crew member Fiona just before Christmas. It gives us an insight into the fate of the young woman, the dangers on the flight as well as the hell in Libya.

“My mother is from Sierra Leone and my father from Mali. I was born a bastard child. Around the age of five my father kidnapped me and we went to Mali. Then the war happened, so he left alone to the USA. I stayed with my grandmother. She mistreated me. My mother was looking for me, my mother didn’t know where I was and I had no news from my father.

In Mali, I had to get married when I was 15. I got an arranged marriage. The man who married me was beating me all day. We had three kids, the third one was born premature. I had the first one at age 15. My last child was at age 20.

I didn’t know what to do… If I stay with my husband he will beat me, if I go back to my family, they will send me away… I left from a tiny village in Mali, I had no money left. I fled my arranged marriage with one of my daughter. An old lady who was sharing an apartment with us, took care of me. Then someone told me that my mother had died. I heard she died homeless.

I met a Nigerian man on Facebook living in Belgium, we fell in love. I tried to come across the Mediterranean Sea. But then I got caught and sent to prison.

There I saw a lot of things. I don’t know why it’s like that, but the pain is too much. They mistreated me, locked me up with no food. If you fall ill, you’ll die there. And then if you want to go back home, you can’t.

They were raping girls in front of everyone.

Once they picked a girl and asked a guy to sleep with her in front of everyone. She didn’t have a choice because they had a Kalashnikov in their hands. He slept with the girl in front of everyone, only because she was black. There was a man who buried his pregnant wife with his two kids. Then he became ill… all his body was emaciated but they wouldn’t let him out because he didn’t have the money. He died in prison, he had no hope left. People who try to escape, will get shot at. In my cell, some people died there. Once there was a guy who tried to escape, they hit him so badly in front of us, all his body was covered with blood.

It’s the same ones who help you cross and then the same ones who bring you to prison. They catch you at sea, they mistreat you. They catch you at home, they mistreat you, in the streets, they mistreat you. They tell you to call home and ask for money. Asking for 1000, 1500 euros. And even if you give that sum, they can still come back. You can buy black people in prison. A guy wanted me, he wanted to have a sexual relationship. He paid 1000 euros for me to come out of prison. But I didn’t want him, so I fled.”

Monique*, 25 from Sierra Leone was rescued along with 223 people by the SEA-EYE 4 on its Christmas mission and safely brought ashore in Pozzallo on Christmas Eve.
*Name and personal data have been changed to protect her.

Malta is violating its duty to rescue boats in distress

Since the SEA-EYE 4 arrived in the Maltese search and rescue zone on Thursday, December 16, 2021, numerous reports of boats in distress have reached the rescue ship. In total, the crew of the SEA-EYE 4 rescued a total of 223 people in four rescue operations. Among them are 29 women, 7 of whom are pregnant, and 8 children. The crew is currently looking for another boat in distress.

Although further boats carrying numerous people in acute distress have been reported at sea since yesterday, Malta has once again failed to fulfill its obligation to coordinate distress cases at sea and rescue these people. Civil sea rescue organizations are currently the only European forces looking for people and trying to bring them to safety. Since the weather is expected to deteriorate significantly soon, the chances of survival for people who are still at sea decrease significantly.

“On the one hand, I am grateful that the SEA-EYE 4 was able to save many people once again. At the same time, it is hard to bear that we have to assume that no help at all came for some of the boats in danger. Civil sea rescue capacities are important, but also limited. The cold-blooded ignorance of the EU costs us human lives – the sea-grave is growing, even if we constantly fight against it. The people who drowned in agony simply wanted a life in safety to which they were entitled – and we deny it to them. But what right do we have to elevate ourselves above these people and their fate?” says Sophie Weidenhiller, spokeswoman for Sea-Eye e. V.

The survivors on board the SEA-EYE 4 are currently being cared for and medically treated by the crew. One child has a broken arm and another has a broken finger. Two pregnant women have stomach pains and several people have had to be treated for chemical burns and hypothermia.

“It is shocking how many people flee across the Mediterranean in overcrowded, completely unsuitable boats, regardless of the dangers. And it is deeply inhuman that the EU continues to leave the rescue of these desperate people to NGOs like us. Shortly before the turn of the year, we hope that politics will finally change in 2022 and that the dying at the deadliest sea border will come to an end,” said Dr. Christine Winkelmann, Head of German Doctors e. V. The aid organization supports the Sea-Eye rescue operations financially and with medical staff and expertise.

“It is wonderful news that our alliance ship SEA-EYE 4 was already able to rescue 223 people during this mission. And a message that fits Christmas! As United4Rescue, we are particularly pleased that the SKYBIRD aircraft discovered the first two emergencies at sea – because United4Rescue only recently provided financial assistance to put this new reconnaissance aircraft into operation. We very much hope that the crew of the SEA-EYE 4 will save even more lives on this Christmas mission,” says Liza Pflaum, board member of United4Rescue.

SEA-EYE 4 expected to reach Trapani on Sunday afternoon

On Saturday evening, the Italian Coast Guard informed the bridge of the SEA-EYE 4 that the Italian authorities had designated Trapani as the port of disembarkation for the more than 800 rescued people. The Foreign Office confirmed the assignment a few minutes later.

The SEA-EYE 4 is expected to reach the port of Trapani on Sunday afternoon. Until then, the rescued persons will spend the third night on board the ship. Some of them are already spending their fifth night on board. The weather deteriorated visibly in the past hours. The Italian coast guard allowed the SEA-EYE 4 to approach the coast earlier to find shelter from the wind and weather.

From Tuesday to Thursday, the ships SEA-EYE 4 of Sea-Eye e. V. and RISE ABOVE of Mission Lifeline e. V. saved more than 800 lives within 48 hours in 7 joint operations. Sea-Eye is supported on board by the Bonn-based organization German Doctors e. V. with an on-board doctor and financial support for hospital operations.

“Our mission doctor Daniela Klein and the entire crew have done an unimaginable job in the last few days – over 800 rescued people have pushed not only the ship itself, but everyone on board to the limit. It is imperative that those rescued can receive medical care ashore. That is why we are incredibly relieved that the SEA-EYE 4 can now head for a safe port and that the people will be brought to safety after many days of uncertainty,” said Dr Harald Kischlat, Chairman of German Doctors e. V.

“We are relieved and overjoyed that the difficult hours for our crew and the rescued people will end on Sunday and that these people will then finally be safe in Italy. We are appalled that Malta’s failure to provide assistance led to such an exceptional situation. The EU states must urgently admonish Malta to ensure that the Rescue Coordination Center in Valletta finally responds to emergency calls again and coordinates sea emergencies, regardless of the color of the skin or the origin of the people who are in distress at sea,” says Gorden Isler, Chairman of Sea-Eye e. V.

„After days of uncertainty, it is finally clear: SEA-EYE 4 has been assigned a safe port. It is a matter of honour that we accompany them to Trapani and continue to do everything we can to support them in any way we can. We are happy that the many exhausted people will finally be allowed to arrive,” says Axel Steier, board member of Mission Lifeline e. V.

SEA-EYE 4 with over 800 rescued people aboard in search of a port of safety

By Wednesday morning, the crews of the SEA-EYE 4 of Sea-Eye e. V. and German Doctors e. V. and the RISE ABOVE of Mission Lifeline e. V. had rescued a total of 397 people in 6 joint operations. But Thursday night saw another dramatic rescue of more than 400 people from a heavily overcrowded wooden boat.

AlarmPhone reported a maritime emergency Wednesday morning in the Maltese Search and Rescue Zone, where Malta is responsible for coordinating maritime emergencies. AlarmPhone also published the distress call on Twitter. AlarmPhone constantly kept informing the Maltese Rescue Coordination Center of new coordinates and requested coordination of the rescue. However, RCC Malta did not respond to any of the calls for assistance. The SEA-EYE 4 and the RISE ABOVE were about six hours away from the scene of the accident.

Despite the great distance and the number of rescued people already on board the SEA-EYE 4, the head of missions of Sea-Eye and Mission Lifeline decided to proceed to the coordinates transmitted by AlarmPhone to the European rescue coordination centers, because no other help was to be expected for these people in acute danger to life.

The RISE ABOVE reached the two-level wooden boat first on Wednesday evening. By that time, there was already a leak in the boat and water was entering. Several people were in the water without life jackets and had to be rescued directly from the sea. The SEA-EYE 4 arrived shortly after. The crews of the rescue boats quickly provided the distressed people with life jackets, calmed them down and initially stabilized the dangerous situation. This was crucial because such a large wooden boat can easily capsize if unrest or even panic arises. Urgent medical emergencies were first evacuated to the SEA-EYE 4. One person was successfully resuscitated while still on the lifeboat on the way to SEA-EYE 4. The full evacuation of the wooden boat could not be completed until midnight.

There are now more than 800 people on the SEA-EYE 4, which has since set course for Lampedusa. The Italian island is only a few hours away from the scene of the accident and is thus the quickest port of safety to reach.

For the 24-member crew of the SEA-EYE 4, an unprecedented, highly stressful situation now arises. The rescue ship is dependent on the rapid assignment of a port of safety.

Sea-Eye has already asked the rescue coordination center in Rome for the assignment of a safe port and the German Foreign Office for urgent assistance, as Malta still refuses any communication.

“A state of emergency is now in effect on the SEA-EYE 4. Any delay by the authorities endangers the health and lives of the rescued people and our crew. It is shameful how Malta repeatedly shirks its responsibility and ignores distress calls,” says Gorden Isler, Chairman of Sea-Eye e. V.

“The behavior of the European authorities has almost criminal features. The responsibilities are unambiguous and clearly regulated. Why the states do not adhere to it and knowingly abandon people in distress at sea can only be related to a lack of pressure of prosecution via the International Criminal Court. It would be easy to hold those responsible personally accountable!” says Axel Steier, board member and spokesman of MISSION LIFELINE e. V.

„It is shocking how many rescues Sea-Eye and other organizations had to make in the last days. The situation on the ground is dramatic, as the rescue crews are reaching the edge of their capacities, which are no longer sufficient. We need help so that all people who are in distress at sea right now can be rescued. After all, this is our common moral responsibility,” said Dr. Christine Winkelmann, chairman of German Doctors, who are involved in the rescue operation through the ship’s doctor Daniela Klein.