Libyan coastguard fire at asylum seekers in attempted pushback within Malta SAR

A Libyan coastguard vessel was spotted by international humanitarian NGO Sea-Watch trying to ram and pushback a boat of asylum seekers “deep” in Malta’s SAR zone.

Footage posted by the NGO shows the vessel, Ras Jadir, one of four boats donated by Italy to the Libyan coastguard in May 2017, trying to capsize the boat.

There were 45 people on board the fleeing boat, with the incident happening just 35 nautical miles from Lampedusa.

Crew members aboard the vessel can also be seen shooting at the wooden boat, which eventually made it to Lampedusa.

“Those who shoot at refugees and try to capsize their boats are not there to save them. The EU must immediately end cooperation with the so-called Libyan Coast Guard,” the NGO said in a tweet. “Shootings have been reported many times during violent pushbacks and interceptions.”

A probe by the Guardian newspaper last May showed that EU member states used illegal operations to push back at least 40,000 asylum seekers from Europe’s borders, resulting in the death of more than 2,000 people.

Malta is included among the culprits mentioned in the report along with EU border agency Frontex, Greece, Croatia, Italy and Spain.

According to the report Malta, which declared its ports closed early last year, citing the pandemic, continued to push back hundreds of migrants using two strategies: enlisting private vessels to intercept asylum seekers and force them back to Libya or turning them away with directions to Italy.