Photo credit: Aljazeera
Years of criticism of an EU-backed migration pact between Italy and Libya are coming to a head as migrant rescuers say the Libyan coastguard has begun firing directly at them.
The Libya Tribune reports that last week, the German charity, Sea-Watch, said its rescue ship was shot at by the Libyan coastguard using live ammunition.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Melani’s government and the European Union provide funding and training to the Libyan coastguard to intercept people attempting to cross to Europe. The project is credited with sharply reducing the number of immigrants reaching Italy by sea.
However, the project, signed in 2017 by the then centre-left government, has been under a lot of criticism amid reports that the EU-funded detention centres in Libya are run by human traffickers, who also collude with the coastguard.
Critics say that makes Italy and the EU complicit in human rights breaches by war-torn Libya, and opposition parties are calling for the deal to be scrapped before it automatically renews in February.
Italy would have to give notice on pulling out by next month.
