Libya threats force rescue group’s halt

ROME — A second humanitarian group in two days has reluctantly decided to suspend migrant rescues in the Mediterranean Sea because of Libyan threats, and other charities with rescue ships on Sunday were considering doing the same.

Germany-based Sea-Eye said it made the decision to halt its water rescues “with a heavy heart,” but for the sake of its crew’s safety.

Sea-Eye cited the “changed security situation in the Western Mediterranean” after the Tripoli-based government’s announcement that it was extending its territorial waters.

Save the Children said its rescue ship was staying in Malta and that the group is evaluating whether to stop its ship’s patrols after Libya declared that its search-and-rescue area now will extend far beyond the 12 nautical miles that Italy and other countries consider the limit of its territorial waters.

Libya also proclaimed its intention to “extend its control and prohibition of [nongovernmental organization] ships in international waters,” according to Save the Children.

On Saturday, Doctors Without Borders also cited Libyan threats in suspending its sea rescue activities. A Spanish aid group reported that the Libyan coast guard last week fired warning shots while its vessel was in international waters.

Humanitarian groups worry that if migrants are blocked at sea after setting out from Libyan shores in smugglers’ unseaworthy boats, they risk drowning without rescue ships nearby. They also fear that migrants will be mistreated in Libyan detention centers if they are thwarted from leaving the African country.