Flow of migrant boats slows, but those sent back face a new hell
Italy condemned by rights groups for reaching deals with Libyan militias to stem number of arrivals
ADAM had been on the inflatable rubber dinghy for around an hour, sailing in darkness from Libya towards Italy, when he heard the roar of engines.
The 24-year-old electrician from Sudan had crammed into the little boat with 120 other people before dawn in the Libyan town of Sabratha. The strangers huddled together, sharing what little water they had and the hope of reaching a new life in Europe.
But long before they could reach the open sea, a black ship pulled alongside them. Adam could see uniformed men with Kalashnikov rifles.
“If anyone moves, we’re going to shoot the boat and all of you are going to die,” one of the men from the Libyan coast guard shouted in Arabic. The boat people had no choice but to allow themselves to be towed back to shore.
From the perspective of European leaders desperate to reduce the numbers of migrants and refugees arriving in Italy from Libya, interceptions like this are considered a success. The EU trains Libya’s ragtag coast guard to stop boats at sea while Italy’s government has allegedly struck secret deals with militias to keep boats from leaving in the first place.
Combined, the European policies have driven down the number of arrivals dramatically. Between July and September this year 21,657 people arrived in Italy, compared with 61,821 the year before – a fall of 65 per cent. “We have a real chance of closing the Central Mediterranean route,” Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, said this week.
Yet for Adam and tens of thousands of other people now stranded in Libya, the costs of these policies cannot be measured in numbers.
The young Sudanese man grew up in war-ravaged Darfur and learned English from international aid workers. Sitting on the deck of the Aquarius, a rescue ship run jointly by SOS Méditer- ranée and Médecins Sans Frontières, his eyes brightened when he spoke of completing his education and one day getting to Germany.
But his face darkened when he remembered his year in Libya and his time in prison after being stopped at sea. “I want to forget I was ever in Libya. If I had the option I would delete it from my memory,” he said.
“They beat me in the prison for two months. They tortured me a lot of times. Sometimes they used electricity, sometimes they hit me with a stick on my back or on my leg. Sometimes they hit me with their guns.”
Every day the militiamen would come to him with a phone and the same demand: call your friends and family and get them to send money.
Adam had spent what little money he had paying a smuggler for the failed journey to Italy but eventually a friend was able to raise the 1,000 dinar (£550) the militiamen judged his life to be worth. They drove him to a rubbish heap and dumped him there.
Human rights groups have been stinging in their criticism of European policy aimed at keeping migrants in Libya, accusing the EU of trying to keep the humanitarian crisis offshore and out of sight rather than working to solve it. “Blinded by the single-minded goal of keeping people outside of Europe, European funding is helping to stop the boats from departing Libyan waters, but this policy is also feeding a criminal system of abuse,” said Dr Joanne Liu, the president of Médecins Sans Frontières.
For Italy’s centre-left government, which faces elections next spring, criticisms over human rights may be a small price to pay compared to facing the wrath of Italian voters exasperated by the arrival of 600,000 people since 2014.
A recent survey by the Italian Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI) think tank found around 59 per cent supported policies designed to keep people in Libya, even when told they would be kept in “abysmal conditions in detention centres”.
At the centre of Italy’s effort to stop the arrival of migrants is Marco Minniti, the interior minister. Mr Minniti denies making deals with militias in Sabratha, one of Libya’s main smuggling hubs, or anywhere else to stop migrant boats from leaving. But human rights group suspect he has sent money or promises of support to militias.
An EU spokeswoman said: “We are aware of the appalling and sometimes inhumane conditions in which some migrants are treated, in detention or reception centres in Libya. And we do not turn a blind eye to it.”
She said the EU aimed to “break the business model of traffickers and smugglers of migrants” and to improve conditions in detention centres.
While the numbers of people arriving in Italy have fallen, they have not stopped altogether. Three months after he was freed from prison, Adam was on another rubber boat and this time did reach the open sea. On October 10, he was rescued alongside 129 other people by the Aquarius and three days later he had arrived in Italy.
“When the rescue ship showed up in front of my eyes, I felt like I was born again,” he said, as he looked out onto the Sicilian port where he would take his first steps in Europe.
“The first thing I’m going to do complete my education.” is