Migrants who were returned to Libya after having been rescued in international waters by Maltese and Libyan forces in July, suffered torture including electric shocks, according to an Amnesty International report.
The human rights organisation in a report entitled Seeking safety, finding fear: Refugees, asylum-seekers and migrants in Libya and Malta, criticises Malta for participating in the forcible return or removal of already vulnerable individuals to Libya.
The report features the story of Ahmed Mahmoud and Mariam Hussein, a Somali couple who fled their war-torn country and got to Libya. There they lived in constant fear of being detained by the authorities, were unable to find work and robbed robbed repeatedly, before they decided to leave by boat for Europe. Mariam was by then seven months’ pregnant.
The couple were part of a group of 55 Somalis who were intercepted at sea and rescued from a dinghy in distress by Maltese and Libyan vessels on July 17, 2010.
Miriam Hussein and 26 others were immediately returned to Libya; twenty-eight others, including Ahmed Mahmoud, were brought to Malta.
In Libya, Miriam Hussein and those returned with her were all immediately detained and the men among them were reported to have been beaten and tortured with electric shocks. Two months later, Miriam suffered a still birth.
"Torture and other abuse of refugees, asylum-seekers and migrants is systematic in Libya. Guards frequently punch detainees or beat them with metal rods or batons, and those who complain about detention conditions or ask for medical help face assault and other punishment," the report says.
"Despite this, in October, the European Commission signed a “cooperation agenda” with the Libyan authorities over the “management of migration flows” and “border control” until 2013, according to which the EU will pay Libya 50 million euros.
"Meanwhile, a broader “Framework Agreement” between the EU and Libya is being negotiated, including in order to allow the “readmission” to Libya of “third-country” nationals who enter the EU after transiting through Libya.
“EU-Libya cooperation needs to have human rights and responsibility-sharing at its core – the founding principles of international protection. The EU and its member states must not turn a blind eye to continuing human rights violations in Libya, when seeking Libya’s cooperation in order to stem the flow of people arriving in the EU from Africa,” said Amnesty spokesman Malcolm Smart.
An estimated 13,000 people arrived in Malta by boat from Libya between 2002 and May 2009.
"Malta, however, is not the safe haven they were hoping to reach. Under Maltese law, any new arrivals, including asylum-seekers, are liable to be considered “prohibited immigrants” and face mandatory detention of indeterminate length – in practice up to 18 months.
"Existing legal remedies to challenge detentions have been judged “ineffective” by the European Court of Human Rights.
“Malta’s geographical position means that it has to cope with large and mixed flows of irregular migrants and asylum-seekers, and this clearly presents a significant challenge. However, this does not relieve Malta of its obligations under international and regional refugee and human rights law, including the European Convention on Human Rights,” said Malcolm Smart.
“The Maltese authorities must ensure that search and rescue operations do not result in the forcible return or removal of already vulnerable individuals to Libya or other states where this would expose them to a real risk of serious human rights violations.”
See also:
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100725/local/please-bring-my-wife-mariam-here
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100723/local/prime-minister-rules-out-inquiry