Collaboration between Frontex and the Libyan coastguard
10.5.2021
Question for written answer E-002475/2021
to the Commission
Rule 138
Bettina Vollath (S&D), Javier Moreno Sánchez (S&D), Birgit Sippel (S&D)
According to an article published in the German news magazine Der Spiegel on 29 April 2021[1], a crowded rubber dinghy carrying migrants was rammed by the Libyan coastguard (LCG) on 25 June 2020. At least four people went overboard and at least two people died, and the others were brought back to Libya. This incident apparently happened after a Frontex plane circulated the area, which was confirmed by available flight data.
In March 2021, Executive Director of Frontex Fabrice Leggeri stated in Parliament that Frontex does not collaborate with the LCG. He himself also called the LCG aggressive and violent.
- 1.Can the Commission confirm that Frontex did not transfer the coordinates to the LCG in this particular instance?
- 2.Does Frontex regularly share precise coordinates of boats in distress with merchant vessels and search and rescue non‑governmental organisations?
- 3.Is the cooperation between Frontex and the LCG in line with the European Court of Human Rights 2012 ruling stating that refugees cannot be brought back to Libya because of the immediate threat of torture and death?
- [1] https://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/libyen-wie-frontex-hilft-fluechtlinge-in-folterknaeste-zurueckzuschleppen-a-e80e275d-0002-0001-0000-000177330683