Operation Sofia will “put more lives at risk”
SAVING the lives of refugees is going to become “even more challenging” thanks to the Government’s decision join a European programme to disrupt human trafficking in the Mediterranean.
That’s according to Ballincar native Dr Conor Kenny who has just completed a three month stint with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)/Doctors Without Borders off the Libyan coast.
Conor recounted his experiences at the coal face of the refugee crisis recently to an Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs.
He referred to an incident where the Libyan Coastguard opened fire over a boat of refugees in the middle of a rescue operation by MSF.
“As part of Operation Sofia, a big part of the Irish Navy’s mandate is about supporting the Libyan coastguard who enact such behaviour,” he told The Sligo Champion on his return to Sligo last week.
“We’re getting reports of people having their belongings stolen, being beaten in the water and in the detention centres they’re taken back to in Libya.
“For me, I think, how can you support that?” he said. His concerns about Operation Sofia are shared by the Immigrant Council of Ireland and the Irish Refugee Council.
Operation Sofia will change the navy’s role from that of humanitarian search and rescue to a more military role of sending boats back to Libya.
“I was disappointed both as a Humanitarian and as an Irish citizen that this was the decision they took,” he said.
“The Irish Navy is a leading light in humanitarian missions,” he said. He believes that the navy’s change from a humanitarian to a more aggressive military role is a step back. “That anti-smuggling operation has received a huge amount of criticism for its ineffectiveness,” he said. “My concern is that it will put more lives at risk. It’s sad that this is the direction they’ve taken,” he added.