Twenty-two organisations and academics on Thursday called on Malta to stop pushing back people at sea to Libya, following allegations that 83 asylum seekers were pushed to the North African country.
On Monday, emergency rescue hotline Alarm Phone warned that 83 people had been "abducted" from Malta's search-and-rescue zone.
Instead of being rescued and taken to a safe port, the people aboard the boat adrift in Maltese waters had been "forcibly intercepted" by the Libyan Coastguard, the NGO said on X, formerly Twitter.
Over the past years, there have been several claims of Malta’s failure to assist migrants at risk, with the island being involved in a controversial operation in 2020 to return people to war-torn Libya.
In 2021 dramatic footage shot by Sea-Watch International’s monitoring aircraft Seabird showed people aboard a Libyan coastguard boat opening fire at a migrant vessel and trying to ram it several times. Search-and-rescue NGOs claimed that the Maltese and Libyan authorities had attempted a violent pushback of 45 asylum seekers to Libya.
This week, the local organisations expressed "extreme concern" at reports alleging that the island had "somehow permitted the Libyan authorities to enter Malta’s rescue zone and to return the people to Libya".
"Libya is not a safe country. It remains unsafe due to widespread and ongoing conflict. This is aggravated by the fact that it does not yet have a government able to provide security and stability to the entire country and all people living in it," they said in a joint statement.
They added that the "awful situation" for non-Libyan nationals living in Libya was very well-documented, including by United Nations expert observers.
"Human rights violations of the most egregious nature occur daily. Migrants and refugees are not safe in Libya," they warned.
They urged Malta to refrain from returning people to Libya - including through facilitation with the Libyan authorities and to also investigate Monday's alleged pushback.
Aditus' director Neil Falzon added that Malta’s declared prevention policy must not result in loss of life or human rights violations. Illegal actions, he said, could not be part of Malta’s strategy to control its borders.
The 22 organisations are aditus foundation, Association for Justice, Equality and Peace, Blue Door Education, The Critical Institute, Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation, Humanists Malta, Jesuit Refugee Service (Malta), Justice and Peace Commission, KOPIN, Maltese Association of Social Workers, Migrants Commission - Archdiocese of Malta, Migrant Women Association Malta, Office of the Dean - Faculty of Education, Office of the Dean - Faculty for Social Wellbeing, Paulo Freire Institute Foundation, PEN Malta, Repubblika, SAR Malta Network, SPARK15, St Jeanne Antide Foundation, Victim Support Malta and the Women’s Rights Foundation.